U.S. patent application number 17/743970 was filed with the patent office on 2022-09-01 for next generation monitoring system.
The applicant listed for this patent is Comcast Cable Communications, LLC. Invention is credited to Deven Vazirani.
Application Number | 20220277630 17/743970 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 1000006333643 |
Filed Date | 2022-09-01 |
United States Patent
Application |
20220277630 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Vazirani; Deven |
September 1, 2022 |
Next Generation Monitoring System
Abstract
Methods and systems are described for the detection and
identification of a cellular device that crosses a perimeter
associated with a premises that is installed with a monitoring
system. Subsequently, a determination of an intruder crossing the
perimeter and/or entering a building within the premises may be
made based on receiving unique identification values for the
cellular device and/or information associated with a user of the
cellular device. One or more sensors present within or near the
premises may be configured to send alert information when tripped.
The monitoring system may be configured to determine a location of
the cellular device, an identity of the user of the cellular
device, additional information stored, transmitted or received by
the cellular device, and safe escape routes that may be sent to one
or more user devices registered with the monitoring system.
Inventors: |
Vazirani; Deven; (Wayne,
PA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Comcast Cable Communications, LLC |
Philadelphia |
PA |
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
1000006333643 |
Appl. No.: |
17/743970 |
Filed: |
May 13, 2022 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
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16804603 |
Feb 28, 2020 |
11386760 |
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17743970 |
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15664364 |
Jul 31, 2017 |
10621839 |
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16804603 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G08B 15/00 20130101;
G08B 13/24 20130101; G08B 25/001 20130101; G08B 13/19695 20130101;
H04W 4/02 20130101; G08B 29/188 20130101; G08B 13/1672 20130101;
G08B 7/066 20130101; H04W 4/90 20180201; H04W 4/024 20180201 |
International
Class: |
G08B 13/196 20060101
G08B013/196; G08B 13/24 20060101 G08B013/24; G08B 29/18 20060101
G08B029/18; G08B 7/06 20060101 G08B007/06; G08B 15/00 20060101
G08B015/00; H04W 4/024 20060101 H04W004/024; G08B 25/00 20060101
G08B025/00 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: determining, by a computing device and
based on at least one wireless signal received from a wireless
device, that the wireless device is an unauthorized device at a
premises; determining, based on at least one signal characteristic
associated with at least one wireless signal associated with the
wireless device, that the wireless device is within a proximity of
a zone associated with the premises; and causing, based on the
wireless device being an unauthorized device at the premises and
based on the zone, a security response.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining the
security response based on determining, based on the at least one
signal characteristic, that the wireless device is moving towards
the zone.
3. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, based on
the at least one signal characteristic, a movement pattern
associated with the wireless device, wherein causing the security
response is further based on comparing the movement pattern to
stored information indicating movement patterns associated with
authorized devices.
4. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining a
predicted trajectory of the wireless device based on at least one
of: the at least one signal characteristic, or receiving a
plurality of sensor signals and corresponding timestamp
information.
5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining a
location of an occupant within the premises, wherein the security
response comprises sending, to a device associated with the
occupant, an exit route that avoids a predicted trajectory of the
wireless device.
6. The method of claim 5, further comprising sending, to the device
associated with the occupant and based on an updated predicted
trajectory of the wireless device, an updated exit route.
7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: determining, based on
a predicted trajectory and a location of the wireless device and
locations of occupants of the premises, safe exit routes for the
occupants; and for each of the occupants: sending, to a device
associated with that occupant, a real-time display of the locations
of the occupants, the location of the wireless device, and a safe
exit route, of the safe exit routes, associated with that
occupant.
8. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving, from the
at least one wireless signal received from the wireless device,
identification information associated with the wireless device,
wherein the security response comprises using the identification
information to perform at least one of: sending, to the wireless
device, a text message indicating unauthorized presence at the
premises; placing a phone call to the wireless device; sending, to
the wireless device, an audible message to be output by a speaker
of the wireless device; sending, to the wireless device, a message
that emulates a wireless emergency alert; placing a phone call to
the wireless device and sending, to the wireless device after
determining that the phone call is answered, an audio message; or
sending, to the wireless device, a request for authentication
information.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one wireless signal
received from the wireless device comprises at least one of: a
cellular signal, a Bluetooth signal, a ZigBee signal, a Z-Wave
signal, a Thread signal, a Wi-Fi signal, a global system for mobile
(GSM) communication signal, or a code division multiple access
(CDMA) signal.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one signal
characteristic comprises a signal strength.
11. A computing device comprising: one or more processors; and
memory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more
processors, cause the computing device to: determine, based on at
least one wireless signal received from a wireless device, that the
wireless device is an unauthorized device at a premises; determine,
based on at least one signal characteristic associated with at
least one wireless signal associated with the wireless device, that
the wireless device is within a proximity of a zone associated with
the premises; and cause, based on the wireless device being an
unauthorized device at the premises and based on the zone, a
security response.
12. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the
computing device to determine the security response based on a
determination, based on the at least one signal characteristic,
that the wireless device is moving towards the zone.
13. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the
computing device to: determine, based on the at least one signal
characteristic, a movement pattern associated with the wireless
device; and cause the security response further based on a
comparison of the movement pattern to stored information indicating
movement patterns associated with authorized devices.
14. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the
computing device to determine a predicted trajectory of the
wireless device based on at least one of: the at least one signal
characteristic, or a received plurality of sensor signals and
corresponding timestamp information.
15. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the
computing device to: determine a location of an occupant within the
premises, and wherein the security response causes the computing
device to send, to a device associated with the occupant, an exit
route that avoids a predicted trajectory of the wireless
device.
16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the
computing device to send, to the device associated with the
occupant and based on an updated predicted trajectory of the
wireless device, an updated exit route.
17. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the
computing device to: determine, based on a predicted trajectory and
a location of the wireless device and locations of occupants of the
premises, safe exit routes for the occupants; and for each of the
occupants: send, to a device associated with that occupant, a
real-time display of the locations of the occupants, the location
of the wireless device, and a safe exit route, of the safe exit
routes, associated with that occupant.
18. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the instructions,
when executed by the one or more processors, further cause the
computing device to retrieve, from the at least one wireless signal
received from the wireless device, identification information
associated with the wireless device, and wherein the security
response causes the computing device to use the identification
information to, at least one of: send, to the wireless device, a
text message indicating unauthorized presence at the premises;
place a phone call to the wireless device; send, to the wireless
device, an audible message to be output by a speaker of the
wireless device; send, to the wireless device, a message that
emulates a wireless emergency alert; place a phone call to the
wireless device and send, to the wireless device after a
determination that the phone call is answered, an audio message; or
send, to the wireless device, a request for authentication
information.
19. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the at least one
wireless signal received from the wireless device comprises at
least one of: a cellular signal, a Bluetooth signal, a ZigBee
signal, a Z-Wave signal, a Thread signal, a Wi-Fi signal, a global
system for mobile (GSM) communication signal, or a code division
multiple access (CDMA) signal.
20. The computing device of claim 11, wherein the at least one
signal characteristic comprises a signal strength.
21. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions
that, when executed by a computing device, cause: determining,
based on at least one wireless signal received from a wireless
device, that the wireless device is an unauthorized device at a
premises; determining, based on at least one signal characteristic
associated with at least one wireless signal associated with the
wireless device, that the wireless device is within a proximity of
a zone associated with the premises; and causing, based on the
wireless device being an unauthorized device at the premises and
based on the zone, a security response.
22. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 21,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device,
further cause determining the security response based on
determining, based on the at least one signal characteristic, that
the wireless device is moving towards the zone.
23. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 21,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device,
further cause determining, based on the at least one signal
characteristic, a movement pattern associated with the wireless
device, and wherein causing the security response is further based
on comparing the movement pattern to stored information indicating
movement patterns associated with authorized devices.
24. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 21,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device,
further cause determining a predicted trajectory of the wireless
device based on at least one of: the at least one signal
characteristic, or receiving a plurality of sensor signals and
corresponding timestamp information.
25. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 21,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device,
further cause: determining a location of an occupant within the
premises, and wherein the security response comprises sending, to a
device associated with the occupant, an exit route that avoids a
predicted trajectory of the wireless device.
26. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 25,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device,
further cause sending, to the device associated with the occupant
and based on an updated predicted trajectory of the wireless
device, an updated exit route.
27. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 21,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device,
further cause: determining, based on a predicted trajectory and a
location of the wireless device and locations of occupants of the
premises, safe exit routes for the occupants; and for each of the
occupants: sending, to a device associated with that occupant, a
real-time display of the locations of the occupants, the location
of the wireless device, and a safe exit route, of the safe exit
routes, associated with that occupant.
28. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 21,
wherein the instructions, when executed by the computing device,
further cause retrieving, from the at least one wireless signal
received from the wireless device, identification information
associated with the wireless device, and wherein the security
response comprises using the identification information to perform
at least one of: sending, to the wireless device, a text message
indicating unauthorized presence at the premises; placing a phone
call to the wireless device; sending, to the wireless device, an
audible message to be output by a speaker of the wireless device;
sending, to the wireless device, a message that emulates a wireless
emergency alert; placing a phone call to the wireless device and
sending, to the wireless device after determining that the phone
call is answered, an audio message; or sending, to the wireless
device, a request for authentication information.
29. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 21,
wherein the at least one wireless signal received from the wireless
device comprises at least one of: a cellular signal, a Bluetooth
signal, a ZigBee signal, a Z-Wave signal, a Thread signal, a Wi-Fi
signal, a global system for mobile (GSM) communication signal, or a
code division multiple access (CDMA) signal.
30. The non-transitory, computer-readable medium of claim 21,
wherein the at least one signal characteristic comprises a signal
strength.
Description
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of and claims priority to
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/804,603, filed Feb. 28, 2020,
which is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.
15/664,364, filed Jul. 31, 2017, and now U.S. Pat. No. 10,621,839,
the content of each of which is incorporated herein by reference in
its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] A monitoring system associated with a building typically
detects an intruder and triggers an alarm after a sensor or alarm
associated with the building has been tripped. A company affiliated
with the monitoring system will then attempt to notify a registered
user of the alarm and attempt to verify the alarm via a user
response. Often times the alarms that are triggered after an
intruder has already broken into the building provide a very short
time duration for registered users present in the building to
safely respond and/or evacuate the building and in addition,
valuable time is wasted during a genuine alarm event in an attempt
to verify that the alarm event is a legitimate alarm event. There
remains an ever-present need to improve the effectiveness of
security systems in discerning false alarms from true ones, and in
quickly handling the true ones.
SUMMARY
[0003] In light of the foregoing background, the following presents
a simplified summary of various features described herein in order
to provide a basic understanding of some aspects described herein.
This summary is not an extensive overview, and is not intended to
identify key or critical elements or to delineate the scope of the
claims. The following summary merely presents various described
aspects in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed
description provided below.
[0004] Some examples herein may take advantage of certain criminal
intruders who happen to carry their wireless devices (e.g.,
cellular phones, laptops, etc.) with them when breaking into a
premises. Wireless devices (e.g., picocells, microcells, LTE
antennas, cellular interceptors, wireless routers, etc.) at the
premises may automatically seek to communicate with wireless
devices in general, and may seek to connect with the intruder's
cellular phone. If such a connection is made, then the wireless
devices at the premises may determine that the intruder's cellular
phone is a suspect one (e.g., because the intruder's cellular phone
is not previously-known to the wireless device), and may take
action, such as sending messages to the intruder's cellular phone
to deter the intruder from breaking into the premises, obtaining
information that can be used to identify the intruder, and in some
cases, taking control over some of the functionality of the
intruder's cellular phone. A monitoring system may encompass the
wireless devices at the premises for monitoring the premises and/or
an area associated with the premises. The monitoring system may be
communicatively coupled to devices (e.g., via an interconnected
network of physical devices, sensors, actuators, computing devices
in an Internet of Things (IoT) system) within and/or otherwise
associated with the premises, may establish communication channels
with wireless devices entering and/or exiting the premises, and may
monitor one or more sensors, detectors or cameras within and/or
otherwise associated with the premises to detect a threat situation
associated with a presence of the intruder, prevent the intruder
from breaking into the premises, provide safe exit routes to
registered users present within and/or near the premises, sound
audible alarms within the premises, and/or notify security
personnel during the threat situation.
[0005] Some aspects described herein may provide for determining
authorization levels associated with suspect wireless devices that
have entered the premises and/or crossed a secure perimeter
associated with the premises, track the intruder's location in
real-time, and/or determining one or more accomplices of the
intruder during the threat situation by tracking voice and/or data
signals sent and/or received by the intruder's cellular phone.
[0006] The summary here is not an exhaustive listing of the novel
features described herein, and are not limiting of the claims.
These and other features are described in greater detail below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0007] Some features herein are illustrated by way of example, and
not by way of limitation, in the accompanying drawings. In the
drawings, like numerals reference similar elements between the
drawings.
[0008] FIG. 1 shows an example communication network that may be
used to implement one or more aspects as described herein.
[0009] FIG. 2 shows an example computing device that can be used to
implement any of the aspects, methods, servers, entities, and
computing devices described herein.
[0010] FIG. 3 shows an example operating environment in accordance
with one or more aspects described herein.
[0011] FIG. 4 shows an example operating environment in accordance
with one or more aspects described herein.
[0012] FIG. 5 shows an example operating environment in accordance
with one or more aspects described herein.
[0013] FIG. 6 shows an example operating environment in accordance
with one or more aspects described herein.
[0014] FIG. 7 shows an example operating environment in accordance
with one or more aspects described herein.
[0015] FIG. 8 shows an example operating environment in accordance
with one or more aspects described herein.
[0016] FIGS. 9A, 9B and 9C collectively show a flow diagram of a
method in accordance with one or more aspects described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0017] In the following description of various illustrative
examples, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which
form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration,
various examples that may be practiced. It is to be understood that
other examples may be utilized and structural and functional
modifications may be made, without departing from the scope of the
features described herein. Various aspects are capable of other
examples and of being practiced or being carried out in various
different ways. In addition, the phraseology and terminology used
herein are for the purpose of description and should not be
regarded as limiting. Rather, the phrases and terms used herein are
to be given their broadest interpretation and meaning. The use of
"including" and "comprising" and variations thereof is meant to
encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as
well as additional items and equivalents thereof.
[0018] Various aspects described herein may be embodied as a
method, a computer system, or a computer program product.
Accordingly, those aspects may take the form of an entirely
hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an
embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore,
such aspects may take the form of a computer program product stored
by one or more computer-readable storage media having
computer-readable program code, or instructions, embodied in or on
the storage media. Any suitable computer readable storage media may
be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage
devices, removable storage media, solid state memory, RAM, magnetic
storage devices, and/or any combination thereof. In addition, the
functionality may be embodied in whole or in part in firmware or
hardware equivalents, such as integrated circuits, field
programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and the like. Various signals
representing data or events as described herein may be transferred
between a source and a destination in the form of electromagnetic
waves traveling through signal-conducting media such as metal
wires, optical fibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g.,
air and/or space).
[0019] FIG. 1 shows an example information distribution network 100
on which many of the various features described herein may be
implemented. Network 100 may be any type of information
distribution network, such as satellite, telephone, cellular,
wireless, etc. One example may be a wireless network, an optical
fiber network, a coaxial cable network, or a hybrid fiber/coax
(HFC) distribution network. Such networks 100 use a series of
interconnected communication links 101 (e.g., coaxial cables,
optical fibers, wireless, etc.) to connect multiple premises 102
(e.g., businesses, homes, consumer dwellings, etc., and/or other
types of devices such as cellular interceptor towers, tablets, cell
phones, laptops, and/or computers, etc.) to a local office 103
(e.g., a headend, a processing facility, a local exchange carrier,
a gateway, a network center or other network facility, etc.). The
local office 103 may transmit downstream information signals onto
the links 101, and each premises 102 may have one or more receivers
used to receive and process those signals. According to some
aspects, the network 100 may be associated with a home security
system.
[0020] There may be one or more links 101 originating from the
local office 103, and they may be split a number of times to
distribute the signal to various premises 102 in the vicinity
(which may be many miles) of the local office 103. The links 101
may include components not illustrated, such as splitters, filters,
antennas, amplifiers, etc. to help convey the signal clearly, but
in general each split introduces a bit of signal degradation.
Portions of the links 101 may also be implemented with fiber-optic
cable, while other portions may be implemented with coaxial cable,
other lines, or wireless communication paths.
[0021] The local office 103 may include a termination system (TS)
104, such as a cable modem termination system (CMTS) in an example
of an HFC-type network, which may be a computing device configured
to manage communications between devices on the network of links
101 and backend devices such as servers 105-107 (to be discussed
further below). The TS 104 may comprise an Optical Network
Terminator (ONT) system, in another example of an HFC-type network,
that interfaces with Passive Optical Networks (PONs), Ethernet-PONs
(EPONs) and Gigabit-capable PONs (GPONs). In the example of an
HFC-type network, the TS may be as specified in a standard, such as
the Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS)
standard, published by Cable Television Laboratories, Inc. (a.k.a.
CableLabs), or the TS 104 may be a similar or modified device
instead. The TS 104 may be configured to place data on one or more
downstream frequencies to be received by modems at the various
premises 102, and to receive upstream communications from those
modems on one or more upstream frequencies. The local office 103
may also include one or more network interfaces 108, which can
permit the local office 103 to communicate with various other
external networks 109. These networks 109 may include, for example,
Internet Protocol (IP) networks Internet devices, public switched
telephone networks (PSTN), cellular telephone networks, fiber optic
networks, local wireless networks (e.g., WiMAX), satellite
networks, and any other desired network, and the interface 108 may
include the corresponding circuitry needed to communicate on the
network 109, and to other devices on the network such as the PSTN
and corresponding cellular devices connected to the PSTN.
[0022] As noted above, the local office 103 may include a variety
of servers 105-107 that may be configured to perform various
functions. For example, the local office 103 may include one or
more push notification servers 105. The one or more push
notification servers 105 may be one or more computing devices and
may generate push notifications to deliver data and/or commands to
the various premises 102 in the network (or more specifically, to
the devices in the premises 102 that are configured to detect such
notifications, including for example, monitoring system 305 and/or
various wired and/or wireless devices).
[0023] The local office 103 may also include one or more content
servers 106. The one or more content servers 106 may be one or more
computing devices that are configured to provide content to users
in the premises. This content may be, for example, video on demand
movies, television programs, songs, services, information, text
listings, security services, etc. In some instances, the content
may include cached databases of criminal records, warrants,
on-going legal proceedings, etc. The content server 106 may include
software to validate (or initiate the validation of) user
identities and entitlements (e.g., for example, to execution of
various functions in the security system, locate and retrieve (or
initiate the locating and retrieval of) requested content including
security footage, encrypt the content, and initiate delivery (e.g.,
streaming, transmitting via a series of content fragments) of the
content to the requesting user and/or device.
[0024] The local office 103 may also include one or more
application servers 107. The one or more application servers 107
may be may be one or more computing devices that may be configured
to offer and/or provide any desired service (e.g., monitoring
services, security services, and applications), and may run various
languages and operating systems (e.g., servlets and JSP pages
running on Tomcat/MySQL, OSX, BSD, Ubuntu, Red Hat Linux, HTML5,
JavaScript, AJAX and COMET). For example, an application server 107
may be responsible for monitoring and controlling networked devices
within premises 102. Another application server 107 may be
responsible for storing and retrieving user profiles, social
networking contacts (such as FACEBOOK.TM. contacts), emergency
contact information, collecting television program listings
information and generating a data download for electronic program
guide listings. Another application server 107 may be responsible
for monitoring user viewing habits and collecting that information
for use in configuring monitoring system settings. Another
application server 107 may be responsible for formatting and
inserting alert messages, alarm events, warnings, etc. in a video
stream and/or content item being transmitted to the premises 102.
Another application server 107 may perform various monitoring
system functions including storing remotely security camera
footage, storing registered cellular device and other wireless
device identification values, storing past event history, storing
monitoring system criteria, and storing credentials to enable
remote operation, control, alarm zone notifications, alarm shutoff,
sensor(s) activation/de-activation and other security system
related functions.
[0025] An example premises 102a may include an interface 110 (such
as a modem, or another receiver and/or transmitter device suitable
for a particular network (e.g., a wireless or wired network), which
may include transmitters and receivers used to communicate on the
links 101 and with the local office 103. The interface 110 may be,
for example, a coaxial cable modem (for coaxial cable lines 101), a
fiber interface node (for fiber optic lines 101), a cellular
wireless antenna, a wireless transceiver (e.g., ZigBee, Z-wave,
Thread, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.), and/or any other desired modem
device. The interface 110 may be connected to, or be a part of, a
gateway interface device 111. The gateway interface device 111 may
be a computing device that communicates with the interface 110 to
allow one or more other devices in the home and/or remote from the
home to communicate with the local office 103 and other devices
beyond the local office. The gateway 111 may be a set-top box
(STB), a cellular interceptor tower, digital video recorder (DVR),
computer server, monitoring system, or any other desired computing
system. The gateway 111 may also include (not shown) local network
interfaces to provide communication signals to other devices in the
home (e.g., user devices), such as display devices 112 (e.g.,
televisions), additional STBs or DVRS 113, personal computers 114,
laptop computers 115, premises security system 116, window sensors
117, wireless devices 118 (wireless laptops, tablets and netbooks,
cellular phones, televisions, personal digital assistants (PDA),
etc.), communication devices 119 (e.g., a cellular or a wireless
site, a cellular interceptor tower, a picocell, a microcell, a
femtocell, an LTE antenna, etc.), image capture devices 1210 (e.g.,
a video camera, a camera, etc.), and/or any other desired
computers, audio recorders and transmitters, sensors, such as
ambient light sensors, passive infrared sensors, humidity sensors,
temperature sensors, carbon dioxide sensors, carbon monoxide
sensors, and others. Examples of the local network interfaces may
include Multimedia Over Coax Alliance (MoCA) interfaces, Ethernet
interfaces, universal serial bus (USB) interfaces, wireless
interfaces (e.g., IEEE 802.11), cellular LTE interfaces, Bluetooth
interfaces, ZigBee interfaces and others.
[0026] The communication devices 119 (such as cellular interceptor,
microcell, picocell, femtocell, LTE antenna, etc.) may emulate
legitimate cellular base stations to establish a cell site at the
premises 102a. The communication devices 119 may comprise one or
more cellular interceptors, microcells, picocells, LTE antennas,
etc. Any cellular device that enters a range of coverage of the
communication devices 119 will automatically connect to the
communication devices 119 via a cellular wireless protocol (such as
GSM or CDMA) and transmit unique identification values (such as an
International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) value, an
International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) value, and/or a
Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity IMSI value, etc.) associated
with the cellular device to the communication devices 119. The
communication devices 119 are configured to receive the unique
identification values and determine a phone number identifying the
cellular device. The communication devices 119 may also function as
cellular repeaters that provide improved cellular coverage at
premises 102a.
[0027] FIG. 2 shows general hardware elements of an example
computing device 200 that can be used to implement any of the
systems, devices, and elements discussed herein and/or illustrated
in the figures. The computing device 200 may include one or more
processors 201, which may execute instructions of a computer
program to perform any of the features described herein. In one
arrangement, the processor 201 may execute instructions for a
monitoring application 201a. The instructions may be stored in any
type of computer-readable medium or memory, to configure the
operation of the processor 201. For example, instructions may be
stored in a read-only memory (ROM) 202, random access memory (RAM)
203, removable media 204, such as a Universal Serial Bus (USB)
drive, compact disk (CD) or digital versatile disk (DVD), floppy
disk drive, or any other desired electronic storage medium.
Instructions may also be stored in an attached (or internal)
storage 205 (e.g., hard drive, flash, etc.). The computing device
200 may include one or more output devices, such as a display 206
(or an external television), and may include one or more output
device controllers 207, such as a video processor. There may also
be one or more user input devices 208, such as a remote control,
keyboard, mouse, touch screen, microphone, camera, etc. The
interface between the computing device 200 and the user input
devices 208 may be a wired interface, wireless interface, or a
combination of the two, including IrDA interfaces, cellular
interfaces, Bluetooth interfaces and ZigBee interfaces, for
example. The computing device 200 may also include one or more
network interfaces, such as input/output circuits 209 (such as a
network card) to communicate with an external network 210. The
network interface may be a wired interface, wireless interface, or
a combination of the two. The interface 209 may include a modem
(e.g., a cable modem), and the network 210 may include the
communication links 101 discussed above, the external network 109,
an in-home network, a provider's wireless, coaxial, fiber, or
hybrid fiber/coaxial distribution system (e.g., a DOCSIS network),
or any other desired network. The modem may be integrated with a
cellular antenna. The device may be configured and/or may be able
to perform the steps, methods, algorithms and/or flows described
herein.
[0028] The FIG. 2 example is an example hardware configuration,
although the illustrated components may be implemented as software
as well, such as via an application and/or executable code
executing on the device 200. Modifications may be made to add,
remove, combine, divide, etc. components as desired. Additionally,
the components illustrated may be implemented using basic computing
devices and components, and the same components (e.g., the
processor 201, the storage 205, etc.) may be used to implement any
of the other computing devices and components described herein. For
example, the various components herein may be implemented using
computing devices having components such as a processor executing
computer-executable instructions stored on a computer-readable
medium, as illustrated in FIG. 2. Some or all of the entities
described herein may be software based, and may co-exist in a
common physical platform (e.g., a requesting entity can be a
separate software process and program from a dependent entity, both
of which may be executed as software on a common computing
device).
[0029] One or more features described herein may be embodied in
computer-usable data and/or computer-executable instructions, such
as in one or more program modules, executed by one or more
computers (such as the computing device 200) or other devices to
perform any of the functions described herein. Generally, program
modules (such as the monitoring application 201a) include routines,
programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that perform
particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types when
executed by a processor in a computer or other data processing
device. The computer executable instructions may be stored on one
or more computer readable media such as a hard disk, optical disk,
removable storage media, solid state memory, RAM, etc. The
functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed
as desired. In addition, the functionality may be embodied in whole
or in part in firmware or hardware equivalents such as integrated
circuits, field programmable gate arrays (FPGA), and the like.
Example data structures may be used to illustrate one or more
aspects described herein, but these are merely illustrative
examples.
[0030] FIG. 3 shows an example premises 300 (which may be similar
to, and/or correspond to, premises 102 of FIG. 1). For example, the
premises 300 may be a building, user residence, business,
recreational facility, laboratory, manufacturing facility etc.
(which may be referred to herein as a premises in a non-limiting
manner). The premises 300 may extend beyond a physical barrier,
such as extending beyond a wall of a house, and extending to a
property line boundary, a street, an end of a yard, etc. The
premises 300 may include predetermined and/or user customizable
non-physical barriers or boundaries. For example, the premises 300
may be an open space that may have boundaries for a transmission
and/or reception range of cellular signal strengths or other
wireless communication signal strengths (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth,
etc.) of the communication devices 119.
[0031] The premises 300 may include a monitoring system 305, which
may be operated by or otherwise associated with an entity, such as
the local office 103. For example, the local office 103 or other
entity may communicate with the monitoring system 305. The
monitoring system 305 may send and/or receive instructions from the
monitoring application 201a via the interface 110, the interface
104 and/or the network interface 108. The premises 300 may be
divided into a plurality of zones, such as zone 1 355, zone 2 360,
zone 3 365, and zone 4 370. The premises 300 may include or be
associated with one or more devices and/or components that may be
similar to the devices and/or components in FIGS. 1 and 2. For
example, the premises 300 may include the communication devices 119
that may be integrated into the monitoring system 305 or may be
stand-alone devices. The communication devices 119 may be a
cellular monitoring device, such as a cellular interceptor tower or
microcell. The communication devices 119 may be configured to
detect a wireless device 375, such as a cellular phone, or other
computing device, within and/or near the premises 300.
[0032] The premises 300 may include one or more door sensors 325
that may be configured to detect whether one or more doors at the
premises 300 may be open or closed. In addition, the premises 300
may include a plurality of windows. Each of the plurality of
windows may be secured by associated window sensors, such as window
sensor 315 and window sensor 320, which may be similar to the door
sensor 325. The premises 300 may include one or more smart door
locks respectively corresponding to the one or more doors. The
premises may also include one or more smart window locks
respectively corresponding to the one or more windows. The premises
300 may include a garage sensor 330 that is configured to detect
whether a garage at the premises 300 is open or closed and/or a
remotely controllable garage door opener. The premises 300 also may
include a motion detector 340 that may be configured to detect user
motion, and a video camera 310 that may be configured to capture
videos and/or images when instructed. Premises 300 may also include
one or more lights 350 that are configured to turn on or off, such
as when instructed.
[0033] Any and/or all of the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330,
detectors 335 and 340, video camera 310, lights 350, the one or
more smart door locks, the one or more smart window locks, and the
communication devices 119 may be communicatively coupled via one or
more wired and/or wireless connections to the monitoring system 305
and may comprise an IoT system. The monitoring system 305 may send
and/or receive signals to and/or from the communication devices
119, the various sensors, detectors, lights and/or cameras. Any
and/or all of the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330, detectors 335 and
340, video camera 310, lights 350 and the communication devices 119
may be assigned to a specific zone of the premises 300. For
example, each zone (such as zone 1 355, zone 2 360, zone 3 365, and
zone 4 370) of the plurality of zones may correspond to certain
alarm and/or intruder criteria that need to be met for an alert
notification to be sent and/or an alarm to be triggered. Customized
alarms and/or notifications may be set corresponding to each zone
(such as zone 1 355, zone 2 360, zone 3 365, and zone 4 370) of the
premises 300 and/or corresponding to predefined intruder criteria.
For example, an intruder may happen to bring their cellular phone
to the premises 300, and signals from the cellular phone may be
intercepted and analyzed by the communication devices 119 at the
premises 300 to determine that the intruder's cellular phone is an
unknown or unregistered device. If the monitoring system 305
determines that the intruder's cellular phone is present in zone 1
355, the monitoring system 305 may send an alert notification to a
registered user device informing a registered user of a presence of
the intruder in zone 1 355. The monitoring system 305 may trigger a
customized audible alarm in the premises, wherein the customized
audible alarm is indicative of the presence of the intruder in zone
1 355 (e.g., "intruder in zone 1"). The monitoring system 305 may
be coupled to one or more of the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330,
which may allow the security sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330 to be
activated, de-activated, or monitored. The communicatively coupled
sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330 may be sensors for collecting data,
such as microphones, ambient light sensors, passive infrared
sensors, or the like that may be indicative of the location and/or
movement patterns of the intruder. The lights 350 may be networked
and controllable by the monitoring system 305. For example, the
monitoring system 305 may control the lights 350 to turn on or off
if the presence of an intruder has been detected and/or during an
alarm event or emergency situation.
[0034] According to some aspects, the communication devices 119 or
other device may communicate on the network 100 with the local
office 103 or with another entity or device. For example, the
monitoring system 305 may communicate with the device 375 when the
device 375 crosses a secure perimeter of premises 300 or when the
device 375 enters and/or nears a door or a window. The monitoring
system 305 may acquire information from the device 375. For
example, the monitoring system 305 may determine, retrieve, and/or
receive the IMEI, TMSI, and/or the IMSI value associated with the
device 375 (e.g., a cellular device) by intercepting cellular
and/or data communications between the device and one or more
legitimate cellular base stations. The monitoring system 305
(and/or the local office 103) may analyze, store, and/or compare
the acquired information. For example, the monitoring system 305
may compare the device 375's IMSI, the IMEI, or the TMSI values
with known IMSI, IMEI and/or TMSI identities for cellular devices
registered with the monitoring system 305. The monitoring system
305 may determine that the unknown device 375 is not recognized
and/or may be an unauthorized device that might not have permission
to cross a perimeter (e.g., a secured physical or non-physical
perimeter) of the premises 300 and/or might not have permission to
enter a zone within, in proximity to, or otherwise associated with
the premises 300 based on determining that the unknown device 375
is not a previously detected device and/or there is no match
between stored identification values of registered devices and
identification values of the device 375.
[0035] In some aspects, the communication devices 119 may
communicate with any device (e.g., a wireless device in proximity
to the premises 300) within the communication devices' 119 range of
coverage via GSM, CDMA, Wi-Fi and/or Bluetooth wireless protocols.
For example, a cellular interceptor, as part of the monitoring
system 305, may communicate with any cellular device within the
cellular interceptor's range of coverage by emulating a legitimate
cellular base station. The cellular interceptor may be configured
to establish communication links between the intruder's cellular
device and one or more GSM and/or CDMA cellular base stations in
order to intercept and analyze any incoming and/or outgoing voice
calls and/or data such as text messages, emails, etc. The
communication devices 119 may be configured to determine an
encryption key associated with a target cellular device. On
acquiring the encryption key, the communication device 119 may be
configured to forward communication signals between a cellular base
station and the target device (e.g., the device 375) while
encrypting/decrypting, recording and/or transmitting communication
content to the monitoring system 305 and/or other servers and/or
the local office 103. In some instances, the monitoring system 305
may implement voice and/or data analysis techniques to recognize
words, topics, images, etc. from the communication content that may
be relevant for identifying criminal intent, a plan for breaking
into the premises 300, sensitive personal information associated
with registered users of the premises 300, and/or other information
associated with the premises 300 or residents of the premises 300
that may compromise safety of the residents.
[0036] The communication devices 119 may be configured to send
and/or receive signals to and/or from one or more legitimate
cellular base stations. In addition, if the monitoring system 305
determines that the suspect device 375 is a recognized device,
wherein the acquired identification values match stored
identification values for registered user devices, the monitoring
system 305 may determine an authorization level associated with the
suspect device 375 as listed in Table A below. This feature may be
performed as part of step 909 in FIG. 9A and the monitoring system
305 may continue monitoring the device 375 and determine location
information for the device 375 based on known signal strength
triangulation techniques.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE A Authorization Level Permitted Zones
Permitted Time Range 10 All Zones All Times 8 All Zones 9am to 6pm
on weekdays 5 Zones 1, 2 All Times 3 Zones 1, 2 9am to 6pm on
weekdays 0 None None
[0037] In some instances, the monitoring system 305 may call the
intruder's cellular device and/or send one or more warning messages
to the intruder's cellular device. The one or more warning messages
may be customized to act as a deterrent for the intruder from
attempting to burglarize the premises 300. For example, the
communication devices 119 may set up a cellular communication link
between a registered user device and the intruder's cellular device
by dialing a phone number for the intruder's cellular device. The
registered user device may send audible messages via the cellular
communication link such as "you have been identified as an
intruder," "you have no authorization for accessing the premises,"
"we have intercepted information uniquely identifying your phone
but do not recognize your phone, please identify yourself!," "you
are under surveillance, do not proceed into premises," etc. In some
instances, the monitoring system 305 may send warning messages
(e.g., text, SMS, images, audio, etc.) to the intruder's cellular
device indicating that the cellular device might not have
authorization to enter the premises 300 (or an area in proximity to
the premises 300). In some cases, the warning message may include a
request for security information (e.g., a security code), which may
be used by the monitoring system 305 to grant access permissions to
the device 375. For example, if the device 375 sends correct
security information to the monitoring system 305, and/or no
sensors are tripped, and/or the device 375 does not proceed further
into the premises 300, the monitoring system 305 may assign the
device 375 an authorization level above zero (e.g., using the Table
A example above) that may be indicative of permission to access the
premises 300 or certain zone of the premises 300 (such as the zone
1 355, the zone 2 360, the zone 3 365, or the zone 4 370). In such
cases, because the monitoring system 305 received the correct
security code from the device 375, the monitoring system 305 may
determine that there might not be threat situation present and may
determine no additional alarms or detectors need to be
activated.
[0038] If the monitoring system 305 determines that the device 375
may be an unauthorized device and/or the correct security
information is not received, the monitoring system 305 may trigger
an alarm and/or provide an intruder alert notification, such as
playing an audible alarm, sending or generating an alarm message,
turning on/off the lights 350, turning on the video camera 310,
etc. The monitoring system 305 may establish wireless communication
channels with the device 375 over unsecure wireless networks via
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. The monitoring system 305 may send a text
message, via cellular protocols and/or Wi-Fi protocols, to the
device 375 warning the device 375 to leave the premises 300. In
some instances, the monitoring system 305 may call the device 375
and transmit a recorded warning message to the device 375 if the
call is answered. The monitoring system 305 may determine a
location of the device 375 using any known signal strength
triangulation techniques via the communication devices 119 that may
utilize GSM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. wireless communications
protocols. The monitoring system 305 may also determine a location
of the device 375 based on GPS coordinates received from the device
375. By monitoring changes in the location of the device 375,
determining movement patterns of the device 375 and comparing the
movement patterns of the device 375 to predefined movement
patterns, the monitoring system 305 may determine that the audible
alarm failed to deter the intruder. For example, if the monitoring
systems 305 determines that the intruder's cellular device is
moving towards an office in the premises 300 instead of exiting the
premises 300, after playing an audible alarm (such as "you are not
authorized to access the premises, please identify yourself,"
etc.), the monitoring system 305 may determine that the audible
alarm has failed to deter the intruder. The monitoring system 305
may proceed to compare the response of the intruder to predefined
criteria and determine a high threat score associated the device
375 indicative of a genuine threat situation as listed in Table B
below. A threat score of 10 may be the highest possible threat
score and a threat score of 1 may be indicative of the lowest
possible threat score based on predefined settings and/or user
customizable settings.
[0039] In some instances, an alarm may be triggered by the
monitoring system 305 in response to analyzing cellular and/or data
communications sent and/or received by the device 375. For example,
voice recognition techniques may be utilized in order to recognize
specific words in voice communications to or from the device 375,
wherein the specific words are associated with predefined criteria
for criminal intent (such as words describing fire arms, break-in,
picking locks, hacking, etc.). Similarly, if analysis of data
transmissions (such as text messages) associated with the device
375 recognized the specific words associated with criminal intent,
the monitoring system 305 may determine a threat score associated
with the device 375 as listed in Table B below.
[0040] The analysis of the cellular and/or the data communications
and/or received by the device 375 that reveal the specific words
associated with criminal intent may allow the monitoring system 305
to identify a phone number and other unique identification values
for another unregistered device in communication with the device
375. For example, the monitoring system 305 may determine that the
suspect unregistered device is a device associated with an
accomplice of the intruder if voice and/or data communications
between the device 375 and the other unregistered device comprise
words indicative of criminal intent. The monitoring system 305 may
access a database storing the words indicative of criminal intent
such as break-in, rob, gun, open window, assault plan, etc. In such
situations, the monitoring system 305 may assign a threat score
corresponding to predefined criteria associated with the phone
number of the accomplice's device as listed in Table B below. The
monitoring system 305 may search databases of criminal records for
determining a match between phone numbers of the device 375 and/or
the other unregistered device and stored phone numbers associated
with known criminals. The threat scores of Table B may be adjusted
lower or higher based on determining whether a match between the
phone numbers of the device 375 and/or the other unregistered
device and the stored phone numbers associated with the known
criminals is found. An aggregate threat score associated with the
device 375 may be determined based on a number of predefined
criteria met. If the accomplice's device crosses a secure perimeter
of the premises 300, the monitoring system 305 will determine entry
of the accomplice's device by recognizing the stored phone number
and/or the cellular device identification values. The monitoring
system 305 may then increase the threat score assigned to the
accomplice's phone as listed in Table B.
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE B Predefined Criteria Threat Score Suspect
device present near door for 1 2 minute, no alarm tripped Suspect
device present near door for 10 6 minutes, no sensor tripped
Suspect device present near door, sensor 8 tripped Cellular
communications to and/or from 10 the device 375 that may be
indicative of criminal intentions. Cellular communications to
and/or from 5 the device 375 that may be indicative of the presence
of one or more accomplices. Determining the entry of devices 10
associated with the one or more accomplices into the premises.
[0041] As listed in Table B, the predefined criteria may be
associated with the monitoring system 305 not receiving the
security information within a predetermined time period, location
information suggesting movement of the device 375 (e.g., towards
the interior of the premises), tripping or activating one or more
sensors (e.g., the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330), notifying one or
more other devices 375 that may have crossed a secure perimeter of
the premises 300 (e.g., accomplices that are identified as having
crossed a secure perimeter of the premises), determining
communication between devices 375 (e.g., such as for help in
breaking into premises 300), other user defined criteria and
behavioral patterns of the users of the monitoring system, and the
like. Each of the predefined criteria may be used in evaluating the
threat score associated with the device 375 and selecting a
response. For example, if a cumulative threat score of 8 has been
determined, the monitoring system 305 may proceed to step 921 or
step 929 of FIG. 9B and/or lock doors that are present along a path
the intruder may take to users present at the premises 300. In
another example, this feature can be performed as part of step 916,
or after step 921 of FIGS. 9A-9B.
[0042] In some instances, a predefined and/or user customizable
combination of the predefined criteria may be assigned a default
and/or user customizable corresponding threat score respectively.
For example, a threat score associated with two predefined criteria
being met (such as the monitoring system 305 not receiving a
security code within a predetermined time period and the location
information suggesting movement of the device 375 towards the
interior of the premises 300) may be higher than a threat score
associated with one predefined criteria being met (such as the
monitoring system 305 not receiving the security code within the
predetermined time period). In some other instances, certain
predefined criteria may be assigned a much higher threat score than
the remaining predefined criteria. For example, a threat score
associated with the location information suggesting movement of the
device 375 towards the interior of the premises or the tripping or
activating of the one or more sensors 315 may be assigned a higher
threat score than the monitoring system 305 not receiving the
security code within the predetermined time period.
[0043] The monitoring system 305 may set up an emergency wireless
network at the premises 300 in order to establish another
communication pathway with any cellular device and/or other
wireless device that may be associated with an intruder. This
feature can be performed as part of step 917, or after step 919.
The emergency wireless network may be configured to determine MAC
addresses for any computing devices (e.g., laptops, tablets,
cellular devices, etc.) associated with the intruder. For instance,
some intruders may carry a cellular phone that is configured to
automatically attempt to connect with detected wireless access
points (e.g., IEEE 802.11 hotspots such as XFINITY.RTM. Wi-Fi). The
interface 110 of the premises 300 may be capable of automatically
creating new temporary and unsecured wireless networks on the fly,
when a suspected intruder's device 375 is detected, in which case
the device 375 may establish a communication channel with the local
office 103 and/or a monitoring entity via the network interface
109. For example, the monitoring system may gain control over one
or more software applications installed in the device 375 that may
enable the monitoring system 305 to remotely control one or more
features of the device 375 and/or gain access to data stored in the
device 375. In some instances, the monitoring system 305 may cause
the device 375 to connect to the temporary wireless networks (e.g.,
by providing the device 375 the temporary wireless network access
credentials, etc.) and/or share information stored in the device
with the monitoring system 305 via the temporary wireless network.
In some instances, the device 375 may automatically connect to the
temporary and the unsecured emergency wireless network if the
device 375 is configured to automatically connect to available
Wi-Fi hotspots. The monitoring system 305 may send warning messages
(such as SMS, audio, text, images, etc.) to the device 375 and/or
any wireless device associated with the intruder via the temporary
emergency wireless network and/or the one or more software
applications. Additionally, while FIG. 3 shows a particular number
and configuration of communication device 119 and sensors 315, 320,
325 and 330, which may be included in a monitoring system deployed
at a premises 300 in one embodiment, any number of communication
devices 119, sensors (e.g., 315, 320, 325, 330), as well as any
number of monitoring systems 305 and/or different types of
communication devices 119, cellular antennas, sensors, detectors,
lights and/or cameras may be included in a monitoring system
305.
[0044] In one arrangement, the monitoring system 305 may be
implemented in the computing device 200, for example, with many
functions disclosed herein implemented by the monitoring
application 201a. The monitoring system 305 may be implemented as
part of the gateway 111 (FIG. 1). For example, the gateway 111 may
be communicatively coupled to the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330,
which may allow the gateway 111 to activate, de-activate, and/or
monitor the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330 and/or control the smart
door and window locks. While the description above focuses on the
door sensors 325 and the window sensors 315 and 320, many other
sensors and devices may be communicatively coupled to the
monitoring system 305 and/or to the gateway 111.
[0045] One or more video cameras 310 or sensors or motion detectors
340 may be located so as to monitor an access location of the
premises 300, such as a door or a window, or other traffic areas of
the premises 300. According to various techniques disclosed herein,
images, sounds, and other data captured by the one or more video
cameras 310 or other sensors or the motion detectors 340 may be
transmitted by the monitoring system 305, for example, as an email,
text message, or through a software application to, for example, a
remote or local user or device, for analysis and/or a predetermined
and/or dynamically determined action.
[0046] The monitoring system 305 may be configured to learn the
behavior and activities of the users and/or devices of the
monitoring system 305 and or other residents of the premises 300,
such as children and pets, in order to adjust alarm settings or
modes and to determine when an alarm should be triggered. The
monitoring system 305 may be configured to learn by software
stored, for example, on the RAM 203 or other appropriate memory or
storage device in the computer device 200. The learning process may
include, for example, monitoring the activities of users of the
monitoring system 305 and other individuals within or near the
premises 300 based on the date, time of day, any calendar entries,
etc. This feature can be performed as part of step 916, or after
step 920 of FIGS. 9A-9B. For instance, one or more users of the
monitoring system 305 may regularly enter the premises 300 at a
particular time of day (e.g., arriving home from work, and/or maid
arrival). The monitoring system 305 may keep track of the users'
interaction with the alarm system via associated user devices and
perform steps for the users, without the users' request. Continuing
the example, if the monitoring system 305 determines that a
specific user in the monitoring system 305 routinely opens a garage
door at 5 pm, the monitoring system 305 may automatically disarm
the alarm around 5 pm (e.g., 15 minutes before 5 pm, 15 minutes
after 5 pm, etc.) when that specific user arrives at the premises
300. This example may or might not use facial and/or biometric
identification and may be user selectable. In a similar example, if
the monitoring system 305 determines that all users of the
monitoring system 305 routinely leave the premises 300 at 7 am, the
monitoring system 305 may automatically arm the alarm and/or
activate the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330 at a time when the users
leave the premises 300. Further, the monitoring system 305 could
check internal sensors to ensure no other individuals are home at
the time via internal sensors.
[0047] From the example diagram of FIG. 3, various features may be
realized. For example, the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330, the video
cameras 310, the lights 350, the detectors 335 and 340, and the
monitoring system 305 may be communicatively coupled to a user
interface device, such as the television 112 (or another type of
display). Through the user interface device (e.g., the television
112, the laptop 115 and/or the wireless device 118) an authorized
user may configure or control any of the devices associated with
the monitoring system 305. Another example feature may include
transmitting (e.g., streaming) data (e.g., pictures, video, audio,
etc.) from the one or more video cameras 310 to a device, such as
any of the devices in FIG. 1 or 3.
[0048] FIG. 4 shows an example operating environment in which
various features described herein may be performed and implemented.
The environment may include premises 400 (which may be similar to,
and/or correspond to premises 102 of FIG. 1) and the local office
103. FIG. 4 also shows that the monitoring system 305 may
communicate with an external network, such as the local office 103.
The monitoring system 305 may transfer alert signals or alert
notifications indicating unauthorized cellular devices (e.g.,
device 375) and/or alarm events upstream to the local office 103.
The unauthorized devices 375 may be detected via establishing a
communication channel between the device 375 and the communication
device 119.
[0049] Referring to FIG. 4, when an alarm event or alert
notification is triggered, the local office 103 may record the
alarm event (e.g., store information identifying the sensor(s) that
were tripped, their location, recording video and/or audio showing
the event that occurred, etc.), determine an appropriate reaction,
and/or transmit a signal to an external network, such as a public
switched telephone network PSTN 412, the network 103, the network
109, and/or a wide area network WAN 413. In one embodiment, the
monitoring system 305 may communicate directly and/or indirectly
with and/or via the networks 103, 109, 412 and/or 413. An example
of such a connection, may be a connection between the monitoring
system 305, the local office 103, and/or the PSTN 412, that may be
configured to send data in a suitable form such as alert
notifications to a cellular base station 414 and/or other suitable
network and ultimately to one or more designated wired and/or
wireless devices 415 (e.g., smartphone, tablet, etc.). Alert
notifications from the local office 103 may be sent to one more
devices 415 in the form of a direct and/or indirect communication
such as an email, text message, or phone call or through a software
application. Also, through the PSTN 412, the local office 103 may
connect to a public safety answering point (PSAP). Thus, the local
office 103 may alert authorities of the alarm, so that the
authorities may be dispatched to the premises 400.
[0050] Additionally, or alternatively, the local office 103 may
transfer an alert signal via one or more networks such as the WAN
413 (e.g., the Internet) to a monitoring entity 417 and/or to a web
portal server 418. According to some aspects, the entity 417 and/or
the server 418 may be part of the local office 103. The monitoring
entity 417 may be the same entity as the local office 103 or a
third party entity. The monitoring entity 417 may be responsible
for monitoring the premises 400. This may include responding to
alert signals received when the security system detects an alarm
event. For example, the monitoring entity 417 may contact the
appropriate authorities to dispatch the appropriate authorities to
the premises 400. Or, when an alert signal is transferred to the
monitoring entity 417, this may prompt a representative or
automated system of the monitoring entity 417 to contact (e.g., via
a call, e-mail, text, and/or application) the premises 400 or
another designated entity (e.g., via a telephone number and/or
other contact designation) to confirm the correctness of the alarm
event and/or desired response to the alarm event. Also, the
monitoring entity 417 may communicate with one more wired and/or
wireless devices (e.g., 415, 112, 113, 114, 115 and 118, etc.),
such as via an alert notification, an email, text message, phone
call, media content and/or through a software application, etc.
[0051] The web portal server 418 may be a computing device capable
of providing a web portal through which users may access
information regarding the security of the premises 400. Users may
log-on and/or gain access to the web portal provided by, for
example, the web portal server 418 and view an alarm event and/or
information related to an alarm event, such as what sensor was
triggered and when the sensor was triggered and/or associated dated
related to the alarm event. Also through for example, the web
portal, a user may be able to view video of the premises 400
captured by the video camera 310 and/or may be able to check the
status of the security system, to see if the security system may be
armed. Where the web portal server 418 is coupled to a suitable
network such as the WAN 413 (e.g., the Internet), the web portal
for the premises 400 may be accessed using any device that can
connect to the network, such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.
The web portal may also be used to customize settings, such as
schedules, to indicate when and how the monitoring system 305
should operate. For instance, using the web portal, a user via a
device may be able to indicate certain times during which the
monitoring system 305 should automatically activate/and or
de-activate itself. The web portal may be coupled to the user's
calendar and provide additional inputs to the activating and/or
de-activating of the monitoring system. Additionally, the
monitoring entity 417 and/or the web portal 418 may use these
inputs to determine that a user may be outside of the premises 400
and might not have activated the monitoring system 305.
[0052] The web portal 418 may permit a user to monitor multiple
premises 400. That is, a single user interface (e.g., a graphical
user interface, a display screen, etc.) may allow a user via a user
device to view status information, video, security settings, sensor
information, video camera recordings, etc. for a plurality of
premises 400. Having a single interface may be desirable to users
who have multiple security systems at various remote locations,
such as users who own multiple homes or businesses. According to
some aspects, a plurality of interfaces may be implemented.
[0053] When an alarm event or intruder is detected, the local
office 103, the monitoring authority 417, and/or the monitoring
system 305 may transmit information regarding the alarm event to
one or more users and/or devices, which may allow users to
determine what may have triggered the alarm. For example,
information about an alarm event may be transmitted to registered
user devices (such as device 415), via the web portal server 418,
identifying the cellular device that was detected, providing
information associated with an intruder carrying the cellular
device, providing location information associated with the cellular
device, providing information associated with one or more
accomplices of the intruder, sensor(s) that were tripped, when they
were tripped, their location, recording video and/or audio showing
the event that occurred, the locations of other individuals in the
home or business premises, etc. A user response from the registered
user device and/or a predefined user configurable response
application may be able to use such information regarding the alarm
event to determine whether the alarm may be a false alarm or
whether authorities should be notified and dispatched.
[0054] The local office 103, the monitoring authority 417, and/or
the monitoring system 305 may transmit information giving one or
more users and/or associated devices the option to clear the alarm
event as a false alarm. For example, information may be transmitted
to the user's cellular device 415 via a cellular base station 414
or via the web portal server 418 enabling the user and/or
associated device 415 to disarm the notification. The local office
103, the monitoring entity 417 and/or the monitoring system 305 may
have access to a database storing a confidential passphrase and/or
other biometric identification discussed herein. The user and/or
associated device 415 may send the confidential passphrase and/or
other biometric identification to the local office 103, the
monitoring authority 417, and/or the monitoring system 305 to allow
verification of an identity of the user. The local office 103, the
monitoring authority 417, and/or the monitoring system 305 may
disarm the notification based on verifying that the confidential
passphrase and/or other biometric identification sent by the user
and/or associated device 415 matches the confidential passphrase
and/or other biometric identification stored in the database.
[0055] FIG. 5 shows an example monitoring system 505 (which may be
similar to, and/or correspond to the monitoring system 305 in FIGS.
3-4) deployed at a premises 500 (which may be, be similar to,
and/or correspond to the premises 300 in FIG. 3). As shown in FIG.
5, the premises 500 may include a building 550, an entry way 510, a
cellular interceptor 545 (which may be similar to and/or correspond
to the communication devices 119 of FIGS. 1 and 3, a microcell, an
LTE antenna, etc.) and doors (e.g., door 535 and door 540). In some
instances, the cellular interceptor 545 may comprise an array of
one or more communication devices 119 (for e.g., an array of one or
more microcells, LTE antennas, etc.). The array of the one or more
communication devices 119 may be configured to determine a more
accurate location of a cellular device at the premises 500 based on
establishing one or more communication channels with the cellular
device and using known signal strength triangulation techniques.
According to some aspects, the doors 535 and 540 may be remotely
controllable as part of an IoT system associated with the building
550 and/or remotely controllable by the monitoring system 505. A
perimeter 525 may be associated with the premises 500. In some
instances, an area encompassed by the perimeter 525 may be based on
a range of coverage associated with the cellular interceptor 545, a
layout of the premises 500, a layout of the building 550 and/or
other customizable user settings. A registered cellular device 515
which may belong to or otherwise be associated with a resident or
user of the premises 500 may be present at the premises 500. The
monitoring system 505 may not trigger an intruder alert
notification and/or an alarm because the monitoring system 505
recognizes a phone number and/or other unique identification values
of the registered cellular device 515.
[0056] According to some aspects, the monitoring system 505 may
detect cellular signals from a suspect device 520 (e.g., a cellular
device) and may analyze a strength of the cellular signals
associated with the suspect device 520 to estimate a location
and/or a movement pattern of the suspect device 520 (e.g., at step
906 of FIG. 9A). In some aspects, the monitoring system 505 may
estimate the location of the suspect device based on known signal
strength triangulation techniques. If the monitoring system 505
determines that the location of the suspect device 520 is outside
of the perimeter 525, the monitoring system 505 may continue
monitoring the suspect device 520 for location information. If the
monitoring system 505 determines that the location of the suspect
device is within the perimeter 525, the monitoring system 505 may
establish a communication link with the suspect device 520 (e.g.,
by simulating a typical cell tower, or by establishing a Wi-Fi
connection, etc.) and may acquire device identification values,
such as a phone number, an IMSI, an IMEI, and/or a TMSI value
associated with the suspect device 520 (e.g., in which case the
cellular interceptor 545 emulates a legitimate cellular base
station and the suspect device 520 communicates with the cellular
interceptor 545 as if the cellular interceptor 545 were a
legitimate cellular base station). In some instances, a MAC address
associated with the suspect device 520 may be acquired if the
suspect device 520 enters a range of coverage of a local Wi-Fi
signal associated with the premises 500 (e.g., as part of IEEE
802.11 Wi-Fi signaling, the suspect device 520 may provide the MAC
address to the communication devices 119 that may act as Wi-Fi
hotspots).
[0057] The monitoring system 505 may determine whether the acquired
phone number, the IMSI, the IMEI, the TMSI values and/or the MAC
address correspond to a registered user device associated with the
premises 500 (e.g., at step 908 of FIG. 9A). If the suspect device
520 is determined to be a registered user device, the monitoring
system 505 may perform actions, such as opening a front gate to
allow access to the entry way 510, opening a garage door, opening
the door 535, and/or de-activating a front door alarm sensor, etc.
If the monitoring system 505 determines that the suspect device 520
is not a registered user device, the monitoring system 505 may
trigger an intruder alert notification, trigger an alarm at the
premises 500, track the location of the suspect device 520, and/or
make decisions about how to respond to the location of the suspect
device 520. For example, the monitoring system 505 may close the
door 535 to prevent the suspect device 520 from proceeding into the
premises 500. In other instances, the monitoring system 505 may
determine that a current location of the registered user device 515
is a room near the entry way 510. The monitoring system 505 may
dynamically determine a safe escape route 530 based on the
determined location of the suspect device 520 and send the safe
escape route 530 to the registered user device 515 to guide a user
associated with the device 515 away from the entry way 510 and
towards the door 540. In some instances, the monitoring system 505
may close the door 540 after the user has exited the building 550.
The monitoring system 505 may close one or more doors of building
500 to trap the intruder in the building 550.
[0058] The monitoring system 505 may monitor and/or activate one or
more sensors within or near the premises 500. In some examples, the
monitoring system 505 may control one or more networked lights,
doors, detectors and/or cameras within or near the premises 500 in
order to impede progress of the intruder into the premises 500,
deter the intruder and/or assist in the safe evacuation of one or
more users from the premises 500.
[0059] The monitoring system 505 may transmit exemplary
notifications to a user device (e.g., the devices 112, 115, 118,
515, etc.) via any suitable mechanism such as a software
application. The notifications may include the acquired
identification values associated with the suspect device 520, a
description of an alarm triggered, and/or sensors tripped in the
premises 500. According to some aspects, the description of the
alarm may identify a location of the suspect device 520 (e.g.,
which zone, such as the zones 1-4 in FIG. 3, that the suspect
device is located in), the sensor(s) that may have been tripped,
when sensors may have been tripped, video and/or audio information
from the tripped sensors or cameras at the premises 500. In some
instances, the notifications may give a user the option to clear
the intruder alert as a false alarm and/or may request entry of a
confidential passcode, and/or other biometric entry. Successful
entry of a user's passcode and/or other biometric criteria may
clear the alarm and may authenticate access to the user's
confidential passphrase.
[0060] Alert notifications may be tailored depending on the
location of users in relation to the premises 500. For example, if
the monitoring system 505 determines that one or more users are
present within or near the premises 500 when an intruder is
detected (e.g., via the suspect device 520), the monitoring system
505 may provide the one or more users (e.g., via an associated
device, sensor, or other notification) with information associated
with the intruder of the device 520. For example, the monitoring
system 505 may provide to one or more users of the monitoring
system 505 (e.g., via an associated device) information pertaining
to a relative location with respect to the intruder's location. The
one or more users may be provided information for a safe exit route
530 based on the relative locations of the one or more users. As
another example, if an intruder and/or an alarm event is detected,
and the monitoring system 505 may determine that one or more of the
users associated the monitoring system may be within 5 miles of the
premises 500, alert notifications may be sent to the users, via
associated user devices, that are within 5 miles of the premises
500, directing the users to stay away from the premises 500 until
the intruder alert and/or alarm event has been resolved. In another
example, if an alarm event is detected, the system may determine
the location of the users of the monitoring system 505 so the alert
notifications may contain information about the locations of the
one or more users of the monitoring system 505. For example, if the
notification sent to the primary user indicates an intruder may be
in the premises 500, the system may be configured to, and/or the
primary user may choose to, send alert notifications to all and/or
selected users of the monitoring system 505 near the premises 500
stay away until the alarm event has been cleared. For example,
after review of internal monitoring footage and/or communication
with the individual in the premises, the primary user may clear the
event as a false alarm.
[0061] The monitoring system 505 may use predetermined criteria to
determine when an alarm should be triggered in order to reduce the
amount of false alert notifications. For example, an alarm event in
monitoring system 505 may be triggered when there is a deviation
from a predefined set of criteria as listed in Table A. The
predetermined criteria can apply to one or more sensors within or
near the premises 500, and may include a combination of sensor
data. For example, the monitoring system 505 may be configured to
trigger an alarm event if no users of the monitoring entity 417 are
within or near the premises 500.
[0062] In another example, the monitoring system 505 may be
configured so that an alarm event might not be triggered after a
user of the monitoring system 505 comes within a predetermined
distance of the premises 500 during a specific time of day (e.g.,
returning from work). In another example, the monitoring system 505
may be configured to accept biometric identification data for one
or more individuals that may de-activate the intruder alert and/or
update the authorization level of the detected cellular device. The
updated authorization level may be temporary. For example, a user
may grant cellular devices associated with construction workers
temporary access permissions to the premises 500 for a predefined
time duration of two weeks as shown in Table C below. As another
example, a user may grant cellular devices associated with a family
member access (e.g., a more permanent or long-term access) to the
premises 500 by adding IMSI, IMEI or TMSI values associated with
the corresponding cellular devices to a list of cellular devices
registered with the monitoring system 505 and/or the monitoring
entity 417.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE C Access to Device Designation Premises Zone
Access Recognized Family Yes All zones Recognized Friend Yes All
zones Recognized Resident Yes All zones Recognized Neighbor No
Zones 1, 2 and 3 Recognized Construction Sep. 1, 2016- Zone 1 only
Worker Sep. 14, 2016 Unrecognized Intruder No None
[0063] The local office 103, the monitoring authority 417, and/or
the monitoring system 505 may be configured to cancel an intruder
alert, send an alarm notification to one or more users, or notify
and dispatch authorities after determining a threat score
associated with the intruder indicates a legitimate break-in,
burglary or intruder alert and likely not a false intruder alert.
For example, the local office 103, the monitoring authority 417,
and/or the monitoring system 505 may be configured to determine a
threat score by analyzing information relating to the triggering
event and comparing the information to predefined criteria.
Information about the triggering event may include information
relating to the sensor(s) that were tripped, when the sensor(s)
were tripped, the location of the sensor(s), recording video and/or
audio showing the event that occurred, the locations of other
individuals in or at the premises 500, etc. If the local office
103, the monitoring authority 417, and/or the monitoring system 505
determines that the threat score is greater than 5, for example, an
alarm notification may be sent to one or more users, and/or
authorities may be notified and dispatched. If the local office
103, the monitoring authority 417, and/or the monitoring system 505
determines that the threat score is lower than 5, for example, the
local office 103, the monitoring authority 417, and/or the
monitoring system 505 may send a notification informing the one or
more users of the triggering event, the threat score for the
triggering event and may wait for a user input. The user input may
be configured to de-activate the intruder alert notification in the
event that the user recognizes an individual associated with the
cellular device. The local office 103, the monitoring authority
417, and/or the monitoring system 505 may also be configured to
de-activate the intruder alert if the threat score is too low. A
user of the monitoring system 505 may configure the monitoring
system 505 to retain default threat score settings and/or customize
the threat score settings. In some instances, a threat score below
5 may indicate that alert notifications need not be sent to all
users of the monitoring system 505 and may indicate that alert
notifications may be sent to primary users of the monitoring system
505. In some instances, a threat score below 10 may indicate that
alert notifications be sent to all users of the monitoring system
505.
[0064] When engaged by the user (e.g., an owner of the premises
500), the wireless device 515 may provide or otherwise display
(e.g., via a software application) an initial screen or graphic on
the wireless device 515 relating to the monitoring system 505. The
monitoring system 505 and software application may be configured so
that the initial screen presented on a user device (e.g., 515, 415,
115, 118) may be dependent on the state of the monitoring system
505. For example, when a user engages the software application on
the user device (e.g., 515, 415, 115, 118), the monitoring system
505 may determine the current state of sensors, detectors, etc.
within or near the premises 500, e.g., whether the sensors are
activated, de-activated, etc. The software application on the
wireless device 515 may present a screen and/or associated
graphic/video to the user depending on which state of the
monitoring system 505 is in at that time. For example, if an alarm
is active, the software application on the user device (e.g., 515,
415, 115, 118) may present the user a screen that allows the user
to disarm/cancel an alarm and/or choose the option to review the
activities within the home. In another example, if the monitoring
system 505 determines that the premises 500 is in a secure state
(e.g., monitored and no active alarms), the wireless device 515 may
present to the user a screen that shows the current state of the
home and/or allow the user via an associated user device to view
images from the active monitoring cameras. In another example, if
the monitoring system 505 determines the premises 500 is in an
unmonitored state (e.g., disarmed, not configured, de-activated,
etc.), the device (e.g., 515, 415, 115, 118) may present the user a
screen prompting the user to activate the monitoring system
505.
[0065] FIG. 6 shows a monitoring entity 417 (which may be similar
to, and/or correspond to the monitoring system 305 in FIG. 3 and/or
the monitoring system 505 in FIG. 5) comprising one or more
monitored zones, such as zone A 604a and zone B 604b, associated
with one or more monitored premises, such as premises 605a and
605b, that are associated with users of the monitoring entity 417.
In some instances, there may be no overlap between monitored
premises such as between premises 604a and 604b. This may be due to
a user adjusting the range of coverage of a cellular interceptor
corresponding to the premises 605a by reducing a signal strength of
an LTE antenna associated with the cellular interceptor and
reducing the area for monitoring zone A such that there is no
longer any overlap with monitored zone B. Alternatively, or in
another embodiment, selection of a low gain (such as below 5 dB)
cellular interceptor antenna may limit the range of coverage to a
specific zone such as zone A. In some other instances, adjusting a
combination of transmission power values, antenna gain values and
antenna location may provide control over a range of coverage of
the cellular interceptor antenna. Additionally, known beam-forming
techniques used in conjunction with the adjustable factors of the
transmission power values, the antenna gain values and the antenna
location may allow for control over the range of coverage of the
cellular interceptor antenna. In some examples, the monitored
premises 605a may be located in proximity to an unmonitored
premises 605c, wherein no individuals are registered users of the
monitoring entity 417, such that the range of coverage of a
communication device 119 or cellular antenna integrated with a user
device (e.g., set top box, security console, monitoring console,
monitoring system, etc.) associated with the zone A 604a, overlaps
with a portion of the unmonitored premises 605c. In this situation,
it may be necessary to allow a user and/or associated user device,
associated with the zone 1, to configure the settings of the
monitoring entity 417 so as to prevent any unregistered device that
may be detected within the overlapping area 606 from triggering an
intruder alert notification and/or an alarm event. The unregistered
devices detected regularly within the overlapping portion 606 may
be factored out over time and assigned a non-threat score or a very
low threat score (e.g., less than 2) and/or associated with a
neighbor and assigned an authorization level. For example, the
monitoring entity 417 may be capable of a learning process wherein
if an unregistered device has been detected before (e.g., during
nights, weekends, holiday seasons, etc.) and no sensors were
tripped previously, the monitoring entity 417 may assign the
unregistered device a non-threat score of 0.
[0066] FIG. 7 shows monitoring entity 417 (which may be similar to,
and/or correspond to the monitoring system 305 or 505 in FIGS. 3-5)
comprising one or more monitored zones, such as zone C 704a and
zone D 704b, associated with one or more monitored premises, such
as premises 705a and 705b. The monitored premises 705a may be
located in close proximity to the monitored premises 705b such that
the range of coverage of a communication device 119 associated with
zone C 704a may overlap with the range of coverage of a
communication device 119 associated with the monitored premises
705b in an overlapping region 706. In this situation, it may be
necessary to allow a user and/or associated user device, associated
with zone C, to configure the settings of the monitoring entity 417
so as to prevent any unregistered device that may be detected
within the overlapping area 706 from triggering an intruder alert
notification and/or an alarm event. This may be achieved by the
monitoring entity 417 by factoring out regularly detected
unregistered devices within the overlapping area 706 over time. For
example, if an unregistered device is detected more than 5 times in
a single day, with no alarm being triggered, the monitoring entity
417 may register the unregistered device as a low-threat
device.
[0067] The unregistered device detected within the overlapping
portion may be assigned a non-threat score and/or associated with a
neighbor. For example, if the unregistered device is detected for
prolonged periods of time during weekends, the monitoring entity
417 may assign the unregistered device a non-threat score and store
non-threat information, the identification values for the
unregistered device and detection time-frames into a local and/or
remote database. In some instances, the monitoring entity 417 could
take into account the days of the week, and may determine, for
example, that if an unregistered device is detected to be present
in a home for more than 10 hours over the course of one weekend,
without triggering an alarm, then the monitoring entity 417 may
register the device as a low-threat device.
[0068] FIG. 8 shows that monitoring entity 417 (which may be
similar to, and/or correspond to the monitoring system 305, or 505
in FIGS. 3-5) may be configured to monitor multiple premises 805a,
805b and 805c (each of which may correspond to the premises 300 in
FIG. 3) located within a geographic area C and designated to a
monitored zone E. That is, one or more communication device 119,
such as a cellular interceptor, may allow the monitoring entity 417
to detect cellular devices or other wireless devices within a range
of coverage. For example, the range of coverage may be the
monitored zone E 804. The monitoring entity 417 may be configured
to allow a registered user device associated with one of the
multiple premises to view status information, video, security
settings, etc. for the corresponding premises and/or all of the
monitored premises 805a, 805b and 805c.
[0069] The monitoring entity 417 may be configured to determine the
location and/or identity of the users of the monitoring system 505
or other individuals in the monitored zone E 804 to carry out the
examples discussed herein. The monitoring entity 417 may employ
several known techniques for doing so. For example, the monitoring
entity 417 may determine the identity and the location of each user
present within the monitored zone E 804 via establishing
communication links with each wireless registered user device
through the communication devices 119. The monitoring entity may
also determine the location of each user in the monitoring system
505 that may or might not be present within the monitored zone E
804, based on GPS location of each member's cellular devices, using
Bluetooth or WiFi-based location, or other known methodologies. The
monitoring entity 417 may also verify the identity of each user
present within the monitored zone E using several known person
recognition techniques, including for example, known key code,
voice recognition, facial or pattern recognition, Bluetooth tags,
and body-mass recognition, fingerprint recognition, retina scanner
recognition, based on data collected from cameras, microphones,
infrared sensors, biometric sensors, and/or any other desired
sensors (e.g., using a cell phone/tablet microphone, camera,
fingerprint scanner).
[0070] After an unregistered cellular device is detected as having
crossed a perimeter associated with zone E 804, the monitoring
entity 417 may detect and provide the identification information
for the unregistered cellular device, such as the IMSI, IMEI and/or
TMSI value, to one or more users (e.g., via an associated device)
and/or security professionals, (e.g., via an associated devices),
and/or may transmit an intruder alert notification as described
below. According to some aspects, the monitoring entity 417 may
provide information associated with a location of the unregistered
cellular device to the one or more users to help them better
understand the scenario that triggered the intruder alert. The
monitoring entity 417 may send notifications that inform the one or
more users about how much time it may take for emergency
responders, police, etc. to arrive at the premises. For example,
the monitoring entity 417 may be configured to receive user inputs
corresponding to the intruder alert that clears the alert and/or
adds the unregistered cellular device to a list of approved devices
that have permission to access the monitored zone E 804 and a
specific premises within the monitored zone E 804 such as the
premises 805a or 805b or 805c. A predefined user configurable
response application may be able to use such information regarding
the identification information and the location information for the
cellular device to determine a threat score to be associated with
the intruder alert and whether authorities should be notified and
dispatched.
[0071] The monitoring entity 417 may be configured to receive and
store biometric identification for a user of the cellular device
that may be used to clear or de-activate an intruder alert warning.
The monitoring entity 417 may be configured to receive a
confidential passphrase and/or other biometric identification
associated with a user, to clear the intruder alert notification
and/or to verify that the user might not be under duress to clear
the intruder alert notification.
[0072] FIGS. 9A-9C show an exemplary flow diagram 900 for
implementing embodiments contained herein. In one or more examples,
the steps illustrated in FIG. 9 and/or one or more additional or
alternative steps may be performed by one or more components and/or
monitoring systems (e.g., by another monitoring system that is also
located at the same premises, in a situation where two or more
monitoring systems are present at the premises) shown in FIGS. 1-8.
For example, the method may be performed by a home monitoring
system located at a particular premises (e.g., the monitoring
system 305 at the premises 300), or by one or more servers that are
communicatively coupled to the monitoring system 305 and are
located remotely from the premises 300 (e.g., at the local office
103). The steps in this flow diagram 900 need not all be performed
in the order specified and some steps may be combined or might not
be performed at all, and/or changed.
[0073] In step 901, when powered on, the particular computing
device that may be performing the method illustrated in FIG. 9 may
first execute a number of configuration steps. For example, the
monitoring system 305 may load a number of different variables and
settings (such as listed in Table A, Table B and Table C above)
and/or may access a profile, which may be associated with one or
more devices and/or users. Examples of the types of variables and
settings that may be loaded include user preferences (e.g.,
regarding security codes for the monitoring system, types of
audible alarms, layout of the premises, configuration of alarms
based on dividing the premises 300 into predefined zones that
correspond to different threat scores, a predefined time duration
for waiting once a suspect device has been identified, etc.),
networking information (e.g., network addresses for sensors
installed at the premises 300, 400 or 500, network addresses for
one or more monitoring server(s) that monitor the premises, etc.),
and user profile information (e.g., identifiers associated with
previously registered user devices, various information about
different people who reside at the premises, including their names,
ages, health conditions, special needs, etc.). In some instances, a
registered user may provide a list of individuals that may be
contacted during a threat situation. Predefined movement patterns
and/or customizable movement patterns that may be indicative of an
identity of a delivery man, cable provider, etc. may be stored in a
memory of the monitoring system 305 and/or a database. The database
may be stored locally at the monitoring system 505 or remotely in
any one of the networked components of the monitoring system 505
such as the monitoring entity 417, the local office 103 and/or the
web portal 418. The monitoring system 505 may be configured to
verify that the triggering event was triggered by the child (e.g.,
a smaller person) via an analysis of the video camera 310 and/or
motion detector 340 data feed data.
[0074] In step 902, the monitoring system 305 may initialize one or
more communication links. This initialization may, for instance,
including establishing electronic connections (e.g., via one or
more networks, such as distribution network 100) with one or more
sensors (e.g., the sensors 315, 320, 325 and 330) installed at the
premises (e.g., the premises 300, 400 or 500), one or more
monitoring entities (e.g., the monitoring entity 417, etc.) and
other networked servers and devices (e.g., the doors 535 and 540)
with which the computing device may exchange data (e.g., a server
operated by a local PSAP).
[0075] In step 903, the computing device (e.g., the monitoring
system, the application server, etc.) may register one or more
cellular devices. This registration may, for instance, enable the
monitoring system 305 to recognize the registered device(s) as
belonging to a particular person who resides and/or works at the
premises 300 where the monitoring system 305 may be installed, and
this registration may be initiated and/or completed on one of the
cellular devices being registered (e.g., by a user of such a
cellular device). In some instances, the one or more cellular
devices registered in step 903 may be cellular devices that have
not been previously registered with the monitoring system, while in
other instances, the monitoring system 305 may re-register
previously registered cellular devices each time that the
monitoring system 305 is powered on and/or initialized.
[0076] The monitoring system 305 may request a user of a registered
cellular device for permission to access one or more social
networking profiles of the user so that when and/or after an
intruder has been detected and/or an alarm has been tripped, the
user may allow the monitoring system 305 to share information (e.g.
the information associated with the identity and/or the location of
the intruder referred to in FIG. 5, the information associated with
a type of the emergency, etc.) with one or more contacts from the
social networking profile. In this way, if the user happens to be
unavailable when a break-in is occurring, one of the user's friends
may be able to take action to respond to the intruder alert. The
monitoring system 305 may not need permission from a user to access
one or more social networking profiles of the user. In such cases,
when and/or after an intruder has been detected and/or an alarm has
been tripped, the monitoring system 305 share information (e.g.
information associated with an identity and/or location of the
intruder, information associated with a type of the emergency,
etc.) with one or more contacts from the one or more social
networking profiles.
[0077] In registering with one or more cellular devices, the
monitoring system 305 may request, receive, and store
identification information (e.g. MAC addresses, IMEI values, IMSI
values, etc.) that can be used to identify the one or more cellular
devices, as well as user profile and associated user device
information that can be used to provide more customized experiences
to the users of the monitoring system. For example, the user
profile information that may be requested, received, and stored by
the monitoring system 305 may include the name(s), age(s),
gender(s), language preference(s), health condition(s), special
need(s), family relationship(s) (e.g., the identities of the user's
mother, father, sibling(s), spouse, etc.), and/or other information
for each person who may use each of the cellular devices being
registered. In some instances, a particular cellular device may be
used by more than one user (e.g., two children may share a single
tablet computer, two users may be associated with the premises 300,
etc.). In these instances, the user profile information may be
requested, received, and stored for each user of the cellular
device during registration, as this information may later be used
by the monitoring system 305 in processing alarm signals (e.g., if
the user profile information indicates that a certain cellular
device has multiple users, when and/or after an intruder has been
detected and/or an alarm has been tripped, the monitoring system
305 may prompt the user(s) to identify which user(s) are with or in
proximity the device, so as to, for example, enable one or more
aspects of the location-based alarm processing discussed
herein).
[0078] At step 904, the monitoring system 305 may update a locally
stored database and/or remotely stored database with information
pertaining to the registered devices of step 903 and/or other
wireless devices that have been previously detected. In some
instances, if the suspect device has been assigned an authorization
level that grants permission to access the premises, access
permissions for the premises 300 or flagged by the user as a
recognized device, the monitoring system 305 may update the
database with information of the suspect device provided by the
user, conclude that there is no threat situation present and no
alarms may be triggered.
[0079] At step 905, the monitoring system 305 may detect cellular
signals from a suspect device that has entered a range of coverage
associated with the communication devices 119 (via the cellular
interceptor, the LTE antenna, etc.). In some aspects, the
monitoring system 305 may enter a monitoring loop and periodically
check for any suspect device (e.g. cellular phones, laptops,
wearable devices, etc.) present within the range of coverage of the
communication devices 119.
[0080] In step 906, the monitoring system 305 may determine whether
the suspect device has crossed the secure perimeter associated with
the premises 300 based on a strength of the cellular signals
received from the suspect device. In some instances, the monitoring
system 305 may estimate a location of the suspect device based on
known signal strength triangulation techniques and determine that
the suspect device has crossed the secure perimeter. If the
monitoring system 305 determines that the suspect device has
crossed the secure perimeter, Yes at step 906, the monitoring
system 305 may proceed to step 907. If the monitoring system 305
determines that the suspect device has not crossed the secure
perimeter, No at step 906, the monitoring system 305 may proceed to
step 905 and continue to monitor the area of coverage for the
presence of wireless devices and/or cellular signals.
[0081] In step 907, the monitoring system 305 may acquire
identification information associated with the suspect device, Yes
at step 907. The monitoring system 305 may acquire the
identification information from the suspect device via
establishment of a communication link with the suspect device. The
communication link with the suspect device may be established via
the communication devices 119 located within or near the premises.
The communication link may be based on GSM, CDMA and/or other
cellular communication protocols. In some aspects, the monitoring
system 305 may acquire unique identification values associated with
the suspect device (e.g., the IMSI value, the TMSI value, the IMEI
value, etc.) via the cellular communication protocols. If the
monitoring system 305 is not able to establish the communication
link with the suspect device, the monitoring system 305 may not be
able to acquire the identification information associated with the
suspect device. (No at step 907). The monitoring system 305 may
proceed to step 917 of the flow 900.
[0082] In step 908, the monitoring system 305 may determine whether
the suspect device is registered with the monitoring system 305 by
comparing the acquired identification values for the suspect device
with the stored information in the database of step 904. For
example, the monitoring system 305 may compare the acquired
identification values with stored IMSI values for registered
cellular devices from the database.
[0083] In step 909, if the monitoring system 305 determines that
there is a match between the acquired identification values for the
suspect device and stored identification information for a
registered device, the monitoring system 305 may continue to
monitor cellular signals detected within the range of coverage of
the communication devices 119, at step 905. If the monitoring
system 305 detects a registered cellular device, the monitoring
system 305 may perform various actions, such as opening a front
gate, opening a garage, opening a front door and/or de-activating a
front door alarm sensor, turning on lights near the entry points of
the premises 300, etc. If the monitoring system 305 determines that
the acquired identification values associated with the suspect
device do not match any stored identification values in the
database (No at step 909), the monitoring system 305 may determine
that the suspect device is an unauthorized device and/or an
unrecognized device and may proceed to step 910. The monitoring
system 305 may utilize the communication devices 119 in order to
provide community policing. For example, in situations of amber
alerts, the communication devices 119 may compare acquired
identification numbers for a suspect device with a database storing
information related to cellular devices of persons of interest in
the amber alerts. If there is a match between the acquired
identification values for the suspect device and stored
identification information for a device associated with an amber
alert or other public broadcast, the monitoring system 305 may
contact relevant authorities such as police or other emergency
personnel.
[0084] In step 910, the monitoring system 305 may wait for a
predetermined duration of time to help minimize false alarms from
passersby. For example, if a stranger is passing by the premises
300, the monitoring system 305 may detect a cellular device,
belonging to the stranger, and determine that the cellular device
is an unregistered suspect device. The monitoring system 305 may
proceed to wait for five minutes. During the wait period, the
monitoring system 305 may communicate with sensors, detectors,
cameras, user devices, etc. at the premises 300 to confirm that no
sensors or alarms have been triggered. The predetermined duration
of time for the wait period prevents the triggering of false alarms
and/or false alert notifications associated with unregistered
devices passing by the premises 300. In some instances, if the
monitoring system 305 determines that sensors and/or alarms have
been triggered during the wait period, the monitoring system may
determine one or more response actions based on a conventional home
security alarm system. For example, the monitoring system 305 may
send alarm information and information associated with the suspect
device to one or more users and/or security professionals, close
doors, turn on/off lights, activate additional detectors, etc. in
the premises 300. In another aspect, if the monitoring system 305
determines that one or more sensors 315 have been tripped, the
monitoring system 305 will determine zone information associated
with the one or more sensors 315 and may estimate a current
location of the suspect device based on which sensor of the one or
more sensors 315 was tripped and/or based on known signal strength
triangulation techniques. For example, if a sensor has been tripped
in zone 1, the monitoring system 305 may associate the zone 1 with
a current location of an intruder. In other instances, if the
monitoring system 305 determines that no sensors and/or alarms have
been triggered during the wait period, the monitoring system may
proceed to step 911.
[0085] At step 911, the monitoring system 305 may determine a
current location for the suspect device based on analyzing cellular
signal strengths received from the suspect device and/or other
known signal strength triangulation techniques. In some instances,
the monitoring system 305, may determine a movement pattern for the
suspect device based on changes in the current location of the
suspect device. The monitoring system 305 may compare the movement
pattern of the suspect device with the stored predefined movement
patterns of step 901. The monitoring system 305 may determine that
the movement pattern associated with the suspect device matches
that of the stored predefined movement pattern for the delivery man
(e.g., UPS delivery, FedEx delivery, etc.). For example, the
monitoring system 305 may determine that the suspect device is
moving towards the entry way 510 or some other area associated with
the premises 300 (e.g., a mailbox or front door associated with
zone 1 355 of premises 300 in FIG. 3) and/or no sensors (e.g. the
sensors 315, 320, 325 and 300 in FIG. 3) have been tripped. If the
monitoring system 305 determines that the current location of the
suspect device is within the perimeter associated with the premises
300, Yes at step 911, the monitoring system 305 may proceed to step
912. In some aspects, if the monitoring system 305 fails to detect
any cellular signals from the suspect device, the monitoring system
305 may conclude that the suspect device has left the premises 300
(No at step 911). In some other aspects, if the monitoring system
305 determines that the current location of the suspect device is
outside of the perimeter associated with the premises 300, No at
step 911, the monitoring system 305 may proceed to step 904 and
update the database with identification information associated with
the suspect device and/or update an entry in the database
associated with a time duration during which the suspect device was
present within the perimeter associated with the premises 300.
[0086] In step 912, the monitoring system 305 may send alert
notifications to registered user devices. In some situations, the
alert notifications may include the movement pattern information
determined for the suspect device from step 911 and/or the access
permissions for a delivery man (e.g., grant permission to access
the mailbox or the front door of the premises 300) that the
monitoring system 305 may have assigned to the suspect device. In
some aspects, the alert notifications may comprise the phone number
for the suspect device, a time at which the suspect device was
first detected, a time duration during which the suspect device has
been present within the perimeter of the premises 300, etc. Other
examples may include the acquired identification values associated
with the suspect device, an image and/or video feed from one or
more video cameras monitoring the premises 300 sent to the user via
the alert notifications. In other instances, the monitoring system
305 may hack the suspect device and turn On video cameras and/or
microphones of the suspect device. The video cameras and/or the
microphones that have been turned On may provide additional avenues
for acquiring data from the suspect device. For example, by turning
On the microphones, the monitoring system 305 may be able to
listen-in on the surroundings of the suspect device, pick up
conversations and/or other sounds in the vicinity of the suspect
device. As another example, by turning On the video camera, a
stealth camera mode may be launched wherein all data captured by
the video camera is sent to the monitoring system 305 without
alerting the owner of the suspect device. This additional data may
also be included in alert notifications sent to the registered user
devices.
[0087] In step 913, the monitoring system 305 may wait for a user
response. The wait duration may be based on determining a time of
day. For example, if the time is 2 am, the monitoring system 305
may wait for 4 minutes. If the time of day is 3 pm, the monitoring
system 305 may wait for 10 minutes. In some instances, if another
alarm is tripped, the wait duration may be exited and the
monitoring system 305 may proceed to step 917. In some other
instances, the user response may confirm the access permissions
assigned to the suspect device in step 912 and/or the user may be
allowed to make changes associated with the access permissions
assigned to the suspect device. In some other instances, the user
response may clear the alert notification. For example, a user may
recognize a phone number associated with the suspect device or
recognize the intruder from the image and/or video feed and clear
the suspect device for access to the premises 300. In some other
instances, the user response may not recognize the phone number or
other identification information associated with the suspect device
and/or may not recognize the intruder from the image and/or video
feed. The user may indicate a threat situation, trigger alarms,
send alert information to other users or social media contacts,
cause the monitoring system 305 to lock doors, turn on lights,
etc.
[0088] In step 914, the monitoring system 305 may analyze the user
response and determine one or more response actions. If the
monitoring system 305 receives user instructions to clear the
suspect device for access to the premises 300 (Yes at step 914),
the monitoring system 305 may proceed to update the database with
access information for the suspect device (at step 904). If the
monitoring system 305 does not receive user instructions to clear
the suspect device for access to the premises 300 (No at step 914),
the monitoring system 305 may proceed to step 915.
[0089] In step 915, the monitoring system 305 may determine whether
users are present within or near the premises 300. The monitoring
system 305 may poll registered user devices for determining
location information associated with the users. This polling may,
for instance, include sending a request for current or updated
location information to the registered user devices, and further
may include receiving location information from the registered user
devices in response to such a request. In some instances, the
location information received from a registered cellular device may
include the geographic coordinates of a single point that
represents the cellular device's current position. If the
monitoring system 305 determines that no users are present within
or near the premises 300 (No at step 916), the monitoring system
305 may proceed to step 922 of the flow 900. If the monitoring
system 305 determines that users are present within or near the
premises 300 (Yes at step 916), the monitoring system 305 may
proceed to step 916 of the flow 900.
[0090] In step 916, the monitoring system 305 may determine a
location of a user within or near the premises 300 via analyzing
wireless signal strengths between a device of the user and the
communication devices 119 (such as a Wi-Fi modem, a Bluetooth
device, an LTE antenna, etc.) and/or legitimate cellular base
stations based on known signal strength triangulation techniques.
In other instances, such location information may additionally or
alternatively include a set of geographic coordinates, as well as
corresponding timestamp information, that together model a recent
trajectory or motion pattern of the user in the premises 300.
[0091] At step 917, the monitoring system 305 may transmit an
intruder alert notification to registered user devices. According
to some aspects, the monitoring system 305 may provide information
indicative of a presence of the suspect device within the range of
coverage of the cellular interceptor and that the cellular
interceptor has failed to acquire unique identification values of
the suspect device at step 907.
[0092] At step 918, the monitoring system 305 may wait for a
predefined time duration for a user response. The predefined time
duration may be based on determining a time of day associated with
the alert notifications of step 917. For example, if the alert
notifications were transmitted at midnight, the monitoring system
305 may shorten a time window for receiving the user response from
10 minutes to 5 minutes. In other instances, if one or more
additional sensors are triggered and/or the cumulative threat score
exceeds a predetermined value, the monitoring system 305 may exit
the wait duration and proceed to step 929 of FIG. 9C.
[0093] At step 919, the monitoring system 305 may perform various
actions based on the received user response. For example, the
monitoring system 305 may raise security settings for the
monitoring system 305 to the highest level and/or return to step
905 of FIG. 9A. In some other instances, the monitoring system 305
may function as a traditional security system.
[0094] At step 920, the monitoring system 305 may continue to
monitor the premises 300 and proceed to step 905 of FIG. 9A to
repeat the process flow. The monitoring system 305 may monitor
sensors, alarms, detectors, door locks, etc. associated with the
premises 300.
[0095] At step 921, the monitoring system 305 may evaluate the
location information of the users present in the premises 300 and
the location of the suspect device (from step 911) to determine a
safe escape route (e.g., route 530) for people (e.g., residents,
workers, other people, etc.) within or near the premises 300 based
on a layout of the premises 300, activate and/or deactivate one or
more sensors within or near the premises 300. In some instances,
the response data may comprise a display of safe escape routes that
are generated by an artificial intelligence system communicatively
coupled with the monitoring system. The monitoring system 305 may
assign the suspect device a threat score (for example, as listed in
Table B). The monitoring system 305 may send alert notifications,
the threat score and calculated safe exit routes to the users
present within and/or near the premises 300.
[0096] At step 922, the monitoring system 305 may send a message to
the suspect device requesting authenticating information such as a
security code. The security code may be configured to grant the
unregistered device access to the premises. In some instances, the
monitoring system 305 may send one or more warning messages to the
unregistered device. The one or more warning messages may indicate
that the device has no access permissions for entering the premises
300 without providing the requested authenticating information. The
monitoring system 305 may send the one or more warning messages via
GSM or CDMA wireless protocols by establishing a communication link
with the suspect device and the cellular interceptor using the
phone number of the suspect device (as may be acquired in step 907
FIG. 9A). In some instances, the one or more warning messages
intended for an intruder may cause the suspect device to play an
audible warning message, display a text message and/or place a call
to the suspect device. The one or more warning messages may be
configured to emulate wireless emergency alerts in some instances.
Additional audio and/or video messaging may be sent by the
monitoring system 305 and via a common alerting protocol to the
suspect device. The one or more warning messages may be configured
to deter the intruder from attempting a break-in, burglary, etc.
The monitoring system 305 may send one or more alert messages to
registered users of the monitoring system 305 indicative of a
pre-alarm event and/or presence of an intruder. The monitoring
system 305 may send multiple warning messages to the unauthorized
cellular device at predefined time intervals.
[0097] At step 923, the monitoring system 305 may determine whether
the requested authenticating information has been received. If the
monitoring system 305 determines that the authenticating
information has not been received, No at step 923, (e.g., if an
incorrect security code is received from the suspect device, no
security code is received from the suspect device within a
predefined time interval, such as listed in Table B), the
monitoring system 305 may proceed to step 924. In some instances,
the monitoring system 305 may send a notification associated with
the suspect device and/or the incorrect security code to the
registered user devices. The notification may comprise information
associated with the suspect device. For example, this information
may include the acquired identification values associated with the
unauthorized cellular device (e.g., the phone number), an image
and/or video feed from one or more video cameras monitoring the
premises 300 and/or criminal records associated with the
unauthorized cellular device (or phone number) that may cause
pre-configured alert information to be sent via notifications to
the user devices. For example, phone numbers associated with
stalkers may be stored in a database along with a pre-defined alert
message comprising photo identification of the stalkers and any
other criminal records of the stalkers that may provide immediate
alert notifications. In some instances, the user may recognize the
intruder via the image or video feed and may want to grant the
unauthorized cellular device authorization to enter the premises
300. For example, if a user of the monitoring system 305 recognizes
guests that have arrived at the premises 300, the user may grant
authorization to the guests (and associated devices) to enter the
premises 300 by providing them the security code. In another
example, a user of the monitoring system 305 may want to grant
certain guests permission to enter certain areas of the premises.
In this situation, different security codes could be utilized to
grant devices associated with guests different authorization levels
so that some guests may have permission to access the entire
premises 300 while a portion of the guests may have permission to
access certain zones of the premises 300 (e.g., the zone 1 355, the
zone 2 360, etc.) In some instances, the monitoring system 305 may
designate a first security code for granting access permissions to
a first floor of the premises. The monitoring system 305 may also
designate a second security code for granting access permissions to
a second floor and a tenth floor of the premises. The different
security codes associated with different authorization levels could
be assigned different expiry times or expiration credentials. If
the monitoring system 305 determines that the authenticating
information has been received (Yes at step 923), the monitoring
system 305 may proceed to step 904. For example, if the monitoring
system 305 receives a correct security code from the suspect device
and/or no sensors are tripped, the monitoring system 305 may purge
any other information, different from the acquired unique
identification values, associated with the suspect device.
[0098] At step 924, the monitoring system 305 may intercept data
transmissions (e.g., voice calls, text messages, emails, voice
messages, etc.) sent and/or received from the suspect device via
the communication device 119 and analyze the intercepted data
transmission to determine information associated with an intruder
and one or more accomplices of the intruder. For example, the
intruder may place one or more calls to additional cellular devices
that may have been identified by the monitoring system 305 as
suspect devices present within the premises 300. The additional
cellular devices may be flagged as belonging to accomplices of the
intruder while coordinating a break-in at the premises 300. In
another example, the intruder may send and/or receive data, via the
suspect device, pertaining to the premises 300, a robbery plan,
surveillance information associated with the premises 300, etc. The
monitoring system 305 may analyze the data sent and received by the
suspect device, identify key words such as robbery, break-in,
surveillance, etc. and increase the threat score determined at step
921 of FIG. 9B. The increased threat score and information
associated with the additional suspect devices may be sent to users
via one or more alert notifications. The monitoring system 305 may
hack into the suspect device and gain control over one or more
software applications and/or other features of the suspect device.
For example, the monitoring system 305 may cause installation of
spy software on the suspect device via Wi-Fi and/or cellular
protocols. The installed spy software may turn on the video camera
and/or microphone of the suspect device, listen-in on the
surroundings of the suspect device and collect video camera feed
from the suspect device. The spy software may further access data
stored within the suspect device (such as stored images, profile
photographs, fingerprints, audio recordings, text messages, social
media profiles, etc.) and send the accessed data to the monitoring
system 305. Using the identification values of the suspect device
(as acquired in step 907 of FIG. 9A), and/or a public key used by
cellular base stations for decrypting cellular communications, the
monitoring system 305 may determine an encryption key for
decrypting encrypted data stored in the suspect device. In some
instances, the monitoring system 305 may gain control over a camera
of the suspect device and remotely control the camera to capture
images of the intruder. For example, if the monitoring system 305
places a call to the suspect device, and the intruder checks the
suspect device in response to the call, the monitoring system 305
may control the camera to capture images of the intruder. The
images of the intruder may be sent to users and or security
professionals. The monitoring system 305 may remotely control a
software application of the suspect device to produce an audible
tone, turn on/off a flash light, or place a call to security
professionals, etc. In some instances, the monitoring system 305
may send an alert notification associated with the suspect device
and/or the incorrect security code to the registered user devices.
For example, the alert notification may include the acquired
identification values of the suspect device or an image and/or
video feed from one or more video cameras monitoring the premises
300. In other instances, the monitoring system 305 may cause the
suspect device to play an audible warning message (such as, "do not
enter," "leave the premises 500," "your cellular has been
hijacked", "emergency responders have been notified of your
presence," "We have captured information from your phone, so get
out!," etc.).
[0099] As another embodiment, in step 924, the monitoring system
305 may transmit one or more stored images from the suspect's
device to a PSAP to help look-up criminal records, etc. Facial
recognition techniques performed on the transmitted one or more
images may identify a match with an image from a database of images
stored in the PSAP and may provide identity information
corresponding to the intruder. If the identity of the intruder is
indicative of a prior criminal record, data associated with the
intruder that is publicly accessible via the PSAP, may be acquired
by the monitoring system 305 and may be forwarded to the user
and/or other security professionals.
[0100] At step 925, the monitoring system 305 may determine whether
an alarm has been tripped by checking the state of various sensors,
detectors and alarms within the premises 300. In addition to
checking the states of various sensors, the monitoring system 305
also may perform one or more other actions. For example, the
monitoring system 305 may also send and/or receive messages to
and/or from other devices that are located at the premises or at
another location. For example, the monitoring system 305 may send
and/or receive messages from one or more personal health sensors or
wearable devices that monitor the health of users located within or
near the premises 300. Monitoring the health of users located
within or near the premises may allow the monitoring system 305 to
make informed decisions associated with a threat situation and/or
the estimation of a safe exit route. For example, if the one or
more personal health sensors indicate a medical condition
associated with an individual present within the premises during a
threat situation, the monitoring system 305 may determine that the
individual needs to use an elevator instead of stairs, even though
the elevator may be located further away from a current location of
the individual. The monitoring system 305 may transmit a modified
safe exit route to the individual based on data received from the
one or more personal health sensors. If the monitoring system 305
determines that an alarm or sensor has been tripped, Yes at step
925, the monitoring system 305 may proceed to step 929. If the
monitoring system 305 determines that an alarm or sensor has not
been tripped as yet, No at step 925, the monitoring system 305 may
proceed to step 926.
[0101] At step 926, the monitoring system 305 may determine
movement patterns of the suspect device. The movement patterns may
be based on the location information for the suspect device and
time stamp information indicative of a time associated with each
location of the suspect device.
[0102] At step 927, the monitoring system 305 may analyze the
movement patterns of the suspect to determine whether the suspect
device has moved into a sensitive area of the premises 300 (such as
an office, a bedroom, a kitchen, etc.). The sensitive area of the
premises 300 may be determined at step 901 and set-up by one or
more users of the monitoring system 305 based on a layout of the
premises 300 and/or other customizable preferences. In some
instances, the analysis of the movement patterns may predict a
trajectory of the suspect device moving towards the sensitive area
and away from an exit of the premises 300. If the monitoring system
305 concludes that the suspect device is in the sensitive area or
is proceeding towards the sensitive area, the monitoring system 305
may proceed to step 928. If the monitoring system 305 concludes
that the suspect device is not in the sensitive area or is not
proceeding towards the sensitive area (e.g., moving towards an exit
of the premises 300), the monitoring system 305 may proceed to step
931.
[0103] At step 928, the monitoring system 305 may cause an
emergency audible alarm to be played in the premises 300 to notify
users of the presence of the intruder. For example, the emergency
alarm may be a loud, audible alarm played throughout the premises
300 to warn users of the presence of the intruder in a sensitive
area of the premises and/or to deter the intruder from committing
criminal acts. The audible alarm may be played via speakers,
sirens, stereos, televisions, etc. present in the premises 300. In
some instances, the emergency audible alarm may be customized to
reflect which zone (the monitored zones A, B, C, D, E, etc.) the
suspect device is located at. The monitoring system 305 may send
alert notifications indicative of the zonal location information of
the suspect device and/or movement patterns of the suspect device
in the premises 300.
[0104] At step 929, the monitoring system 305 may call 911, a PSAP
and/or other monitoring service. In some instances, the monitoring
system 305 may call 911 to deliver information pertaining to the
suspect device, the tripped alarm, etc.
[0105] At step 930, the monitoring system 305 may transmit a
recorded voice message that provides details of the premises 300
(such as an address, a number of residents, the layout/floorplan,
etc.) during the 911 call. In some instances, the voice message may
provide details of the threat situation (such as the failure to
receive the security code, the phone number of the suspect device,
whether multiple suspect devices have been detected within the
premises 300, location information of users and the intruder,
etc.).
[0106] At step 931, the monitoring system 305 may play an audible
warning alarm (such as "intruder in basement," "intruder in zone
2," "motion detector in zone 1 tripped," etc.) in the premises 300
that may be specific to the zone the suspect device is located at.
The intruder may hear the audible alarm warning and take corrective
actions, such as calling the user, leaving the premises 300,
entering the correct security code, etc. If the intruder calls the
user, the monitoring system 305 may receive a request from the
suspect device indicative of establishing a cellular communication
link with a registered user device via the cellular interceptor
tower. The monitoring system 305 may pause the playing of the
audible warning alarm and wait for a user response since the
monitoring system 305 knows that the intruder is calling the user.
The user response may grant the suspect device access privileges
and/or clear any alarms that may be have triggered.
[0107] At step 932, the monitoring system 305 may compare the
location information of users, the location information of the
suspect device, time stamp information associated with the location
information, and the state of various sensors at the premises 300
with a look-up table included in the response file. Based on this
comparison, the monitoring system 305 may determine which set of
circumstances in the look-up table most closely matches the actual
circumstances (e.g., in terms of which sensor was tripped, a
location of the tripped sensor, a time of day when the alarm was
tripped, and where the registered user devices are), and
subsequently may determine updated safe exit routes. An example of
such a look-up table, which includes different sets of
circumstances for estimating the updated safe exit routes, is
illustrated in Table D below:
TABLE-US-00004 TABLE D Proximity of Proximity of Zone in Safe
Condition Unregistered Unregistered which Time Since Zonal Exit Set
Device to Device to Sensor(s) Sensor(s) Location Route Number Zone
1 Zone 2 Tripped Tripped of User Number 1 Within 200 yards Within
400 yards 1 15 seconds 3 1 2 Within 400 yards Within 200 yards --
-- 2 3 3 Within 100 yards Within 100 yards 3 5 seconds 4 2
[0108] In some instances, at step 932, a user may be provided with
the location information of the suspect device and/or other users
present within the premises 300. The location information may
comprise time stamp information associated with movement patterns
of the suspect device. In some instances, the monitoring system 305
may cause one or more registered user devices to provide a display
of the real-time locations of the plurality of users and the
intruder so that registered users and emergency personnel may be
informed of which registered users are in greater danger.
[0109] In some other instances, at step 932, if the monitoring
system 305 determines that the suspect device has left the
premises, the monitoring system 305 may purge information
associated with the suspect device. For example, the monitoring
system 305 may purge the encryption key, decrypted data from
unauthorized cellular device, information associated with the
intruder, one or more accomplices, information indicating an
identity of the intruder (e.g., stored images, profile photographs,
fingerprints, audio recordings, text messages, etc.) from the
database.
[0110] At step 933, the monitoring system 305 may transmit
instructions to one or more video cameras installed in the premises
300 in order to record content associated with the intruder
presence. The monitoring system 305 may also remotely secure
additional locks and/or doors within the premises 300, unlock doors
and/or windows within the premises 300 and/or turn on or off one or
more lights within the premises 300 to help residents evacuate the
premises 300 or deter the intruder from accessing certain locations
within or near the premises as illustrated in FIG. 5 of the
specification. The monitoring system 305 may also determine what
type of alarm has been triggered. Different types of alarms may,
for instance, include burglar alarms, fire alarms, medical alarms,
and other types of alarms. The device's response to a particular
alarm may depend on the type of alarm that has been triggered, as
different types of alarms may call for different types of
responses. The device's response to a particular alarm may depend
on how long it may take authorities (e.g., police, emergency
responders, etc.) to arrive at the premises. The monitoring system
305 may send information associated with a response time for
authorities to respond to the alarm event or intruder alert sent to
registered user devices and/or other user devices based on a
predetermined contact tree. For example, the monitoring system 305
may determine that emergency responders may arrive at the premises
300 after 25 minutes since the triggering of the intruder alert
and/or alarm at the premises.
[0111] At step 933, the monitoring system 305 may determine
additional unregistered wireless devices (e.g., laptops, wearable
devices, etc.) carried by (or otherwise associated, near, or in
proximity to) the intruder via remotely accessing software
applications on the unregistered cellular device that are in
communication with the additional unregistered wireless devices via
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. wireless protocols. In some other instances,
the monitoring system 305 may determine the additional unregistered
wireless devices via establishing Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc.
communication links with the additional unregistered devices. The
communication links established between the monitoring system 305
and the additional unregistered d devices may help determine MAC
addresses for each of the additional unregistered devices. The
monitoring system 305 may compare the acquired MAC addresses to
stored MAC addresses for registered user devices. If the monitoring
system 305 determines that there is no match between the acquired
MAC addresses and the stored MAC addresses, the monitoring system
305 may eavesdrop and/or analyze communication data associated with
the additional unregistered devices to identify key words (e.g.,
jewelry, robbery, etc.) that are indicative of criminal
intentions.
[0112] At step 933, the monitoring system 305 may send the
identification information associated with the intruder, the
location information for the suspect device and the additional
unregistered devices to registered user devices, emergency
personnel, security professionals, PSAPs and/or or other social
media contacts. In some instances, the monitoring system 305 may
automatically transmit the information to emergency personnel,
security professionals, PSAPs, etc. and in other instances, the
monitoring system 305 may transmit the information after receiving
permission to transmit the information to emergency personnel,
security professionals, PSAPs, etc. from the registered user
devices. In some instances, if an intruder associated with the
suspect device leaves the premises 300, the monitoring system 305
and/or the users may send the identification values associated with
the suspect device to security personnel to help the security
personnel track the location of the suspect device. The location of
the suspect device may be tracked via the IMEI value and cellular
communications with legitimate cellular base stations.
[0113] In some instances, at step 933, the monitoring system 305
may further modify safe exit routes for the users present in or
near the premises 300 by taking into account communications from
security professionals and/or other emergency personnel and
transmit the modified safe exit routes to the users. For example,
in some instances, security professionals may be arriving at the
premises 300 in 10 minutes at an entrance to the east of the
premises. The security professionals may direct residents and/or
other users present within the premises 300 to escape towards that
entrance. In some instances, the monitoring system 305 may allow
security professionals to communicate directly with an intruder
(e.g., via the intruder's cellular device 520, a registered user
device present near the intruder, etc.) and deter an intruder from
carrying out a break-in and/or other dangerous acts. For example,
the monitoring system 305 may remotely activate a speaker function
of the suspect device and allow security professionals to deliver a
message to the intruder via the speaker function. In another
example, a pre-recorded audio message may be delivered to the
intruder via the speaker function and by the monitoring system 305
and/or registered user devices. The monitoring system 305 may
control one or more door locks to seal off a part of the premises
300 (as was described for FIG. 5). For example, if the monitoring
system 305 detects one or more users are present in a basement of
the premises 300, the monitoring system 305 may automatically
secure door locks that lead to the basement. As another example,
the monitoring system 305 may identify a room and/or area of the
premises 300 that may be sealed off to trap an intruder. The
monitoring system 305 may automatically operate the corresponding
door locks to trap the intruder.
[0114] In some other instances, at step 933, the monitoring system
305 may send response data such as control instructions to one or
more video cameras 310 to capture and transmit videos associated
with the alarm events and to networked lights 350 within or near
the premises 300 that may aid users in escaping safely, provide
visual warnings, etc. The monitoring system 305 may send response
data describing the alarm events to the users, neighbors and
emergency personnel. In some instances, the response data may allow
users to control the one or more video cameras 310, door locks,
networked lights 350, etc. within or near the premises 300 and view
various entry/exit points within or near the premises.
[0115] The descriptions above are merely example embodiments of
various concepts. They may be rearranged/divided/combined as
desired, and one or more components or steps may be added or
removed without departing from the spirit of the features described
herein. The scope of this patent should only be determined by the
claims that follow.
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